ANACALYPSIS,
OR,
AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN
OF
LANGUAGES, NATIONS, AND RELIGIONS.
ANACALYPSIS,
ATTEMPT TO DRAW ASIDE THE VEIL
OF
OR,
AN INQUIRY INTO THE
OF
LANGUAGES, NATIONS, AND RELIGIONS.
Btf" THE LATE
GODFREY HIGGINS, ESQ.,
, F.R.ASIAT.SOC., F,R,AST,S.,
OF SKBLLOV GRANGE, NEAR DONCASTER.
RES VERBIS, ET VERBA ACCENDUNT LXTMINA REBUS.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1836.
PRINTED BY GEORGE SMALLFIELDj HACKNEY.
PREFACE.
THE first volume of this work was finished in June, 1833, -although the Title, for the
sake of uniformity, bears the date of 1836* The second volume was commenced; and it
was the Author's intention to have proceeded to its completion. But, having attended
The British Association for the Advancement of Science, held that year at Cambridge,
he wrote thence to his printer, stating, that he was labouring under severe bodily afflic-
tion ; that he should endeavour to reach home as speedily as possible ; and adding, as it
were prophetically, that he should never leave it again, till he was conveyed to his yrace.
So deeply interested, however, did Mr. Higgins feel in the completion of his work, that
he wrote frequently — alternately expressing hope and doubt of his recovery. Having
made what he deemed necessary arrangements for placing the manuscript in the hands
of his appointed editor, he continued to devote his attention to it, till a few days previous
to his decease. This occurred on the 9th of August, 1833.
After Mr, Higgins's interment, his only Son and Executor wrote to say he was directed"
to forward the copy, that the printing might be proceeded with, and expressing his
desire to carry his Father's wishes fully into effect. Here it may suitably be stated,
that, at the sole expense of Godfrey Higgins, his son, this posthumous volume of the
Author's is published.
The Friends and the Literary and Scientific Associates of the Author may have felt
surprised that this publication has been so long delayed. The delay has been unavoid-
able: for, although Mr. Higgins had made preparations for the progress of the work, had
his life been spared, yet when the manuscript was placed in the hands of another, many
parts of it appeared to require curtailment, or omission, to avoid repetitions. The doubts of
the Editor might have been removed immediately had he been able to submit them to
the Author. — As numerous quotations had been made, it was necessary for tfae Editor
frequently to go to the British Museum to collate them with the originals. His distance
from the Museum, the number of books often required for a single sheet, and the time
VOL. IT. 6
VI PREFACE.
unavoidably consumed in finding them, sometimes occupied the greater part of a day,
without the object being fully accomplished; for it sometimes happened, that quotations
had been made from works which could not be found even in that great establishment:
and, at certain periods of each month, the Editor's attention was fully occupied by the inci-
dental duties of his profession. During those periods, the work was delayed, as no part
of the manuscript was placed in the hands of the compositor till it had been carefully
examined, in order to supply references to the first volume, or to preceding sheets of
the second — some of which had not been, and many of which could not be, supplied
by the Author. Delays have also occasionally arisen from the Editor's inability to
attend to the work in consequence of indisposition. Suffice it to say, that the publica-
tion of the volume has not been retarded by Mr. Higgins, who has uniformly evinced an
anxiety to see his Father's wishes realized.
In supplying references to the first volume, it was sometimes found, that the Index,
though copious, was not so specific as was desirable, as subjects alluded to under a given
name, could be found only by referring to many pages appended to that name, To
obviate this inconvenience, a more detailed Index is given with this volume; and it is
hoped, that nearly every subject or opinion contained in it may be found by seeking it
under its appropriate head.
The reader may possibly feel somewhat disappointed, if he peruse the entire volume
carefully, that the promise made (in p, 145) by the Author, that he would "exhibit, in
a future book, the Christianity of Jesus Christ, from his own mouth," has not been ful-
filled so amply as he anticipated. The probability is, that had the Author s life been
spared, he would have left no pledge unredeemed. He may, however, have thought,
that what is contained in the concluding page was sufficient. At all events, neither the
Author's Son nor the Editor felt justified in attempting to supply what may, perhaps, be
regarded as an omission. They esteemed it their duty to allow the Author alone to speak
for himself. His views respecting Jesus Christ and his religion are stated explicitly in
Various parts of the volume. These views will doubtless excite astonishment in some,
and displeasure in those who, while they deny infallibility to the Pope, write, and speak,
and act, as if they possessed that attribute. To the honest and intelligent inquirer after
truth, there can be nothing really offensive in the statement of opinions directly opposed
to his own, if those opinions are honestly propounded. If the Author's statements re-
specting many of the rites and doctriaes of the endowed and unendowed sects of Chris-
tendom can be shewn to be groundless, numerous advocates of those rites and doctrines
will, without doubt, speedily appear in their defence. Truth can lose nothing by fair
discussion.
The Author having given, in the Preface to the first volume, what he designates a
Portrait of himself, it is deemed unnecessary to enter into any further particulars. The
following obituary notice may, however, appropriately be added, as an unbiassed testi-
mony to the Author s worth, and as expressive of the opinion entertained of him by his
fellow-countrymen in the neighbourhood of his residence.
PREFACE.
" Friday morning, August 16, 1833, the late Mr. Higgins.— It has been our painful
" duty to announce, in our obituary of this week, the death of a much esteemed and re-
" spected gentleman, Godfrey Higgins, Esq., of Skellow Grange. As journalists, wt*
" feel that Mr. Higgins has long occupied too large a space in the public eye to be per-'
" mitted to slide silently into the grave; while we are, at the same time, conscious of
ec our inability to do justice to the claims of the neighbour we have lost. Mr. Higgins
" was, in early life, an assiduous and able magistrate; quick to discover the right, and
" firm and fearless to promote and to maintain it; and his indefatigable exertions in the
" detection and correction of the great abuses then existing in the management of the
ff York Lunatic Asylum, and the formation of another and very extensive establishment
" for the care and protection of pauper lunatics at Wakefield, will be monuments of his
i( public spirit, and perseverance, and philanthropy, which many, once visited by the
ff privation of human reason, (that severest of human afflictions,) will have reason to be
" grateful for long after the present generation shall have passed away. Retiring from
" a regular attention to magisterial duty, Mr. Higgins, for some years preceding his
" death, had devoted a considerable portion of his leisure to antiquarian research—
" travelling much in the pursuit and cultivation of his favourite study; and publishing
" from time to time, his discoveries and constructions in works interesting to the man
" of science, and of value to the public ; while, as a moral and political writer, his pro-
" ductions were numerous and important ; possessing much of originality and inde-
" pendent feeling, and always having the increasing happiness and improved condition
" of his fellow-creatures for their object. Being accustomed to think for himself —
" (taking what he considered reason and good sense, more than the rules of ire schools,
" for his guide) — and to write and to speak what he thought, his sentiments and opi-
" nions have by many been admired and adopted; whilst by others — perhaps less candid
ttf and liberal than he was — they have been impugned and assailed with acrimony. Yet
" were their motives never called in question. They were admitted by all to have their
" fountain in a manly, honest heart ; nor could they fail to be acceptable in the sight of
" that Being whose eye expands itself over all the thoughts and transactions of man-
"kind; and appreciates, and registers, and will reward them, not according to conse-
" quence, but intention. Be the sentiments and opinions we allude to founded in truth
" or in error, they at least united in the instance before us, to form the honourable, the
" punctual, the hospitable, the cheerful, and kind-hearted gentleman ; and it will be
" long, very long, ere it can be the province of the Doncaster Gazette to report the
" decease of a neighbour more deservedly and deeply respected and regretted.'*
( viii )
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE Author lived to revise only the first four sheets of this volume. Apprehending
that his life was drawing to a close, he wrote to his printer, expressing a wish that he
would edit the remainder of the work. From so responsible an office the printer would
have shrunk, had not the Author informed him that the manuscript was so far arranged,
that, with proper attention, he would be able to complete the volume. Whether Mr.
Higgins's confidence was well-founded, must be left to the judgment of the reader.
Two injunctions were laid on the appointed Editor, — that he should not send out the
proof sheets to any literary friend; and that, in any instance of a difference of opinion,
he should append Editor to the note. The first injunction is respectfully urged on the
kind and candid consideration of the reader, in excuse for the errata, which, it is
lamented, are numerous. On the second injunction, the Editor begs to remark, that he
has scrupulously endeavoured to leave every opinion of the Author's as he found it; and
ihat, sustaining the twofold office of Printer and Editor, he has reluctantly expressed
any dissent from the views of the Author. One note, especially, the Editor wishes he
had not inserted — that in p, 122, as it was written in ignorance of the Author's opinion,
subsequently expressed (pp. 131, 132), respecting the book of The Acts. It will be
obvious from other notes, that the Editor views the character and doctrines of Paul in a
different light from that in which the Author regarded them. It will, therefore, it is
hoped, not offend or shock the philosophical reader, when he finds it added, that the
Editor avows his firm conviction of the divine mission, the death (by crucifixion), the
resurrection, and the ascension to a state of immortality, of JESUS of Nazareth.
The respected Author, could he speak from the grave, would not, the Editor is con-
fident disapprove of this frank and conscientious avowal. Mr. Higgins was, indeed, as
he claimed to be considered, a philalethean ; and he was too liberal and too generous to
deny to his Editor the right of expressing his love of that which he regards as the truth.
By the great majority of Christians the Author's opinions will doubtless be con-
sidered as very remote from " the truth as it is in Jesus /' but when HE shall return
to judge the word in righteousness (an event which the Editor gratefully anticipates), HE
will determine who most inadequately appreciated his nature and office — those who be-
lieved him a good man, but not a divinely commissioned prophet ; or those who endea-
voured to invest him with the attributes, and to place him on the throne, of his eternal
and ever-merciful FATHER.
THE EDITOR.
Homerton, June 4, 1830.
CONTENTS,
ANACALYPSIS.
BOOK I. CHAPTER I.
Page
. — Saxons ------------ ...... *_„!
CHAPTER II.
Georgia. — Scala -------------.-,..5
CHAPTER III
Jud&an Mythos in Egypt.— Menes. Noah. — Cheres —Abraham Tulis.— Joseph,-* Grecian History a Travesty*— -
Language of Egypt,— Deisul Voyage of Salvation -.-,.-10
CHAPTER IV.
Loid Kingsborough on Mexico.— Malcolme.— Mexican Mythos the same as that of the Old World.— Humboldt
and Spin etc.— Chronology and Cyclic Periods.— To tvers of Mexico and Babel.— -Jewish Language and Mexican
Riteb. — Cross and Crucifixes. — Immaculate Conception. Female Principle.— Humboldt. — Bochica, Peruvian
Rites, &c.-«The Ass and Horse. Races of Men.— China. Tibet. Spanish Policy.— Lawb of the Mexicans.—
Easter Island.— Last Avatar expected*— Tod on Tibet. Island sunk. Jewish My thoh.— General Observations 21
BOOK II. CHAPTER I.
Christian Religion not New. — The Carmelites Pythagoreans. — Pontifex Maximus.— Seven Sacraments. Eucharist
— Baptism.—Christening. — Confirmation.— Baptism of Bells.— Ordination.— Marriage. —Extreme Unction —
Purgatory. — Auricular Confession *.--...,- 42
CHAPTER II.
Revenues. — Monks and Nuns. — Mitre. — Zone, — Cassock — Praying Standing. — White Surplice Tithes paid*
Tonsure practised Crosier, &c.— Candles, Incense. — Processions. Images. St. Abraham.— -Festivals* —
Epiphany. St. Denis, &c — Bambino at Rome. Dedicating Churches, &c., &c — Bulk. Agnus Dei. Angels.
Daemons — Sunday, Dies Solis. Various Customs „-, .-76
CHAPTER III.
Bethlehem, Birth of Jesus Christ.— Birth, Death, and Resurrection of all the Godb.~~ Passover.— Lamb of God,—
Gentile Crucifixion. — Jesus Christ was not Crucified.— -Jewish Incarnation.— Pythagoras.-^-ObservatioQs 95
BOOK III. CHAPTER I,
LETTERS.
Origin of Letters.— Moon's Period.— .Names of Letters. — Boucher.— Dr. Wait qn Sa&s^t**.— Cycld of .Fourteen.—
Thoth.— Oro. Homer*— Targums.— Dr, Young. Sol.— Joseph, Protetwi. : Sl^^SJ^flton/ 'Sindi, peter,—
Cryptography Indian.— Vowel Points.— Acrostic. Anagram.— Metathesis; 'l^l^i(^ie^ Kin^— Arabic letters.
—The God Xangti,— •' E*?, f*«> ex.— Signets.— Sigma Tau.— Adam. Genesis f "-* ;^ « - « „ .147
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
Page
Dis Mariebus.— Systems of Letters.— Last Avatars. Mohained, &c.— Names of the Gods of the Week.— Chinese
Writing.— Abacus and Nabathean Alphabet.— Java.— Northmore's System.— Von Hammer's Book. Saxons.—
Bacchus. Janus. Ogham.— Rhyme. Bards. Fates. Veds.— Chinese.— Immaculate Conception of Saca.—
Pallium.— Apocrypha.— Deisul.— Hammer's Arabic Book 203
CHAPTER III.
Roma. Flora, Pushto.— Allegory of the Flower continued.— General Observations. — Allegories. — Allegories
continued.— Retrospect 23S
BOOK IV.
FEODAL OR FEUDAL TENURE.
Universal Pontifical Government.— Religion of Tibet.— Chartres* Stone. — The Linga. — Island of lona.— Feodal
or Feudal Tenure. — Gavel-kind.— Frank-al-Moign —Lands in Demesne. — Burgage Tenure. —Tenure by
Knights' Service.— Origin of Monks and Nuns.— Land Tax of India. — The Scythians,— The Arabians,— My-
thic Divisions of Countries, with their Officers.— Trade, Craft, Ras or Caste.— Cathedrals, &e., were Druidical,
then Roman, Temples.— Ings Lands.— Allodial Lands.— Hibtory of the Island of li, or lona, or Icolmkill.—
Ceylon.— CaL— Vitrified Forts of Scotland.— Mystery, Wittenagemote.— The Scandinavians.— German Rossi-
crucians,— Di-Om, D'Om, Domus, Om. — Ceres, Bethlehem.— Chivalry. — Sea Kings, Runes — Golden Age - 258
BOOK V. CHAPTER I.
Object of the Mythos.— Book of Enoch on the Earth's Axis.— Noah and Ships of the Ancients.— Cause and
Extent of the Flood. — Change of the Earth's Axis.— Flood of Ogyges.— Inachus.— Comets held to be Planets.
— Seven-Day Cycle and Length of Year.— Whiston on Year of 360 Days^Whistou on Length of Antediluvian
Year.— Whiston on Comet of 1680.— Comet of 5?5J Years' Period the Cause of the Flood.— Periods of Comets.
—Encke's Comet.— Drs. Gregory and Halley on Whiston's Theory.— Dr. Keill on Whiston's Theory.— -Comet
of 5?5§ Years continued. — M. Arago on Comets.— Lexel's Comet.— Genesis, in Substance, found in many
Countries.— Agency of Comets.— Digression on Gas, Spirit, Inspiration, the Soul.— Comet and Flood re-
sumed.—The World's History renewed,— Early History a Mytlios.— Barasit and Mercavah - ... 309
CHAPTER II.
Caesar*— Alexander.— Gengis Khan.— Akbar.— Napoleon.— Supreme Pontiff.— Races of Man. Black Gods.—
Trinitarian Doctrine of Genesis, Jewish Polity. Priesthood.— Supreme Priesthood 343
CHAPTER III.
Niebuhr on Pontifical Government in Italy.— Patriarchal Government in China.— Mohamed.— Pontifical Govern,
ment.— The Assassins. — Niebuhr on Landed Tenures renewed.— Confederated States under Pontifical Govern-
ment. Letters and Population * 371
CHAPTER IV.
Microcosm.— Atoms.— Chinese Microcosm,— The World, &c., divided into Three.— Sacred Numbers*— Mercavah
and Caaba.— Measures of the Ancients. — Etruscan Agrimensores. Templum, Mount; Gargi*rus> Cor. Cardo.
Agrimensores. Termini — The Britons. — The Saxons — Tithes resumed, — The Athenians, — Division into
Castes, into Three, &c. — Archierarch, Sanhedrim, Amphictyons. — Religious Dances. Poetry. Music - • 397
CHAPTER V.
Microcosm continued. Vedanta and Nyaya Philosophy or Doctrines.— Nature of the Microcosm.— Pythagoras
on Numbers. Cycles. — Mythology. Patron and Client. Colonies. Isopolity. Numa Pompilius. — Symbolic
and Alphabetic Writing. — Adoration, of Animals. The Onion. Crest. — The Ancile of Numa, Cyclic Mythos.
Clemens Alexanclrinus. Ancient Mysteries. Baptism, the Eucharist, &c. Doctrine of the Ancient'and Modern
X^r*— Bailly, Buffon, &c., on Birth-place of Mankind. Former Heat at the Poles. The Mythic-Cyclic-Mi-
crosmic System. What ha$ happeaed may happen again. Illusion 427
CONCLUSION 446
EEEATA ET CO BE, I GEN DA.
Page 3, line 1, for *Scythiae/ read Scythes.
line 3, for * que/ read quee.
line 24, for * la xn6me/ read U mime.
line 25, for * ils en suivia/ read il s'en suivra.
line 26, between * n'ont eu' and * la philosophic/ insert pour.
line 29, foi * sufferait/ read suffirait*
65, line 24, for 'sacies/ read sacre'es.
75, line 29, for *accurrit/ read occurrit.
102, line 22, foi * Zelmissus/ read Telmtssus.
107, line 22, for *deficire/ lead deficere.
108, line 25, for * jeligione,* read religion*.
109, line 4 from the bottom, for * grounds,* lead crowns.
122, omit Editor's note, and see bottom of p. 131 and top of p. 132, foi the Authors opinion
of the The <AcUy and leferencc to Kvansou's Dissonance.
127, line 5, for * constantialia/ read sttbstantialfa.
135, line 8, dele 'the/ before holy Call/
136, line 8, foi c /cwcXows?/ lead /et>/eX&>7Tfi$.
138, lines 8, 9, for < 5 x 10=60, and 60 x 10«360/ read 5 x 12=60, and 60 x 5 =300.
144, line 13, foi * secomd/ read second.
164, line 14, insert ce between * C'est que '
169, line 33, for e Fostia/ read Fortia.
170, lines 10, 11, for * AvjctqyS? and TAP^AS/ lead Awc«jvSE and TPA^AS
172, line 29, for * Pope/ lead Pape.
line 32, for * veillieV and * i assemble/ read verities and rassembfa.
196, line 3 of note, for * Fostia,' read Fortia.
220, line 11, for * had been/ read Jias been.
259, line 32, for * des ses/ read <te $es.
line 7 from bottom, for * impiemerent/ read imp? ime rent.
273, line 8, for * Sotland/ read Scotland,
277, line 18, for *5n preces/ read m pieces.
287, lioe 31, for * which rese/ read which rose.
301 , line 18, for * convert,' read convent*
309, line 7 of contents, for * Lexall's/ read layers.
3?4,' linTl? and 3>}for * F^ods of Ogyges and Inachus, read Flood of Ogyges.
311, line 5 from the bottom, for 'SGJNS/ read SIGNS.
333, line 37, for * 2920/ read 2926.
336, line 23, for * coporeal/ read corporeal*
345, lines 5 and 4 from the bottom, for * Bammensium' and * Ram men ses/ read Ramnensium
and Ramnenses.
350, line 24, for *cie*es/ read cr^es.
352, first note, for « Assiat/ read Asiat.
366, last line, for t henious/ read heinous.
371, in note 4, for * 2 Kings xxiii., &c., &c./ read 2 Kings *«W. 6, $-c.
372, line 6 of note 2, for * de Saques/ read des Saques.
385, line 7, foi * de saintes* read des saint es.
386, line 4 fiom the bottom, for ' Egypt^/ read Egypt*.
391, line 3, for * passe", read pas&te.
400, line 21, for * thiee son,* read three sons.
406; line 4, for * famish/ \zad furnishes.
411, line 38, for * Godyean/ read Gordyean.
426, line 26, for 'cords,* read cordes.
437, last line of text, for * «fo* read el/*.
ANACALYPSIS.
BOOK L
CHAPTER L
SACA.— SAXONS.
I SHALL in this Chapter submit to my reader some observations relating to the ancient Sacae of
Tartary or North India, These observations will be of importance in the discussion of the Origin
of Letters, which will be contained in a future Book; and also of the first importance in the two
following Books, the object of which will be to shew, that a real, not a poetical, age of gold— an
age of learning, peace, and civilization— once existed; and that this was under the rule of a sacer-
dotal caste or order which governed the whole world, and which originated the feudal system. I
shall also shew, that $11 the sacred numbers and cycles were intimately connected with, and indeed
partly arose out of, a microcosmic theory, named by Plato in his Timaeus, which was a part of the
secret doctrine of Genesis j and the whole of this I shall also shew was intimately connected with
the feudal system. I fear the extracts from Georgius will be found by many of my readers tedi-
ous ; but as proofs of my -system, from an unwilling witness, they are of the first importance, and
cannot be dispensed with.
We have seen, (Vol. L p. 153,) that one of the most common names of Buddha was Sacya (the
name of the Lama of Tibet) and Saca, and Saca-sa, From this name of Buddha it was 'that the
tribes who inhabited an extensive country east of the Caspian Sea and north of Tibet, were called
Sacae, (Vide Ptolemy.) This was the hive whose castes are yet found in the West, called Saxons,
having, as Dr. Geddes says, the Hebrew language.1 They were the Belgic Suessones of Gaul;
1 From Dr. Wait I learn that there are an IMMENSE number of Chaldee roots to be found in the Sanscrit lists of
Dhatoos. (See Class, Journal, Vol. XVL p 213J These Chaldee roots are Hebrew roots also, and are, I have no
doubt, in a very considerable degree, the origin or base whereon the Sanscrit was built We shall see in a future Book
that they were of the old Tamul language, or at lea$t the vernacular tongue of great numbers of people occupying the
country of the Tamuls at this day, and are called by them Pushto, the same as the language of Western Syria : indeed,
a close attention to what has been said in Vol. L Book X, respecting St Thomas and the Tamuls, must have shewn a
high probability of this already, But I shall return to this in my book on the Origin of Letters*
The Sanscrit Dhatoos are data— things given or granted or assumed, on which other things are built— the roots of
the language. The word is what I call Sanscrit Latin.
* S4CA.
one of their capitals was Soissons :l they were called Sausen by the Welsh3 Sacon by the Scotch,
and Sasenach or Saxsenach by the Irish. They are the people said by Herodotus to be the same
as the Scythians. 2
Dr. Scheller maintains the whole of Europe to have been occupied by the Saxons before the
arrival of the Celts.3 But they were, in fact, both tribes of the same people. Scythians, Celts,
Saxons, were successive castes or swarms from the same hive. If there were any difference, it
was merely in the time of their arrival in the West. But it is probable that they were only differ-
ent names for the same people; as the Britons are called English, Scotch, Welsh, Albanians,
Caledonians, Cambrians, &c. The difference in their dialects is only what would naturally arise in
unwritten languages, in the space of four or five hundred years.
They were castes or swarms sent out in succession, from a great and excessively populous hive
in Tartary or North India — the country of the thousand cities of Strabo. They were exactly like
the tribes sent out from Britain in modern times — at one time to America, at another time to
Africa, at another time to Australia. They were the subjects of the only civilized nation on the
earth. fi hey took with them every where their manners, government, language, religion, and
allegiance to their supreme head, as our colonies all retain their allegiance to the mother country.
They at first nowhere found any of their own high caste, none in fact but such persons as we
found in America — Aborigines, as we call them. They met with no resistance ; but, by degrees,
as the world became peopled with the successors of previous tribes of their own countrymen, and
land scarce, wars for possession began to arise* This I shall discuss, however, in my next Book.
The word Saca is the same as the Hebrew word rottf she, imaginari, and scio, to contemplate, 4
and the Greek yjvcotrxo) — in short, mind, constantly confounded with wisdom. The Sciakam of
Georgius is probably Sa~ca-akim. The root is attf &h, whence came bw skl9 wisdom,5 and our
skill. Saca is sax ; and sakl or ski, or skill or cunning or knowledge or scientia or wisdom, in any
art, is X or Xaca, KL, which means the cal or wisdom of X; and KL.is X— 600, Liz50,zi650:
and the KL-di is the origin, in its most remote degree, of the Calidei or Chaldeans. I promised
this explanation in Book XL Chap* L Sect. 1 ; Callide (wisely), cunning, king, incarnation of
wisdom or cunning. The origin of the root sk and kl, I shall shew when I treat of the Origin of
Letters. I have no doubt that this root is, in fact, the same as the $& sg, whence come nstP $gh
and the Latin sagio,6 and saga a witch, and sagacitas, prsesagio — English, sage, sagacious, presage ; 7
and the Roman officer called sagart, who was the sacrificer, and the Hebrew sagan, the assistant
or adviser of the high priest. From this came the word g^ttf sit, Scalit, the name given to Joseph
in Egypt, and the meaning of which, I apprehend, was wise man. 8 Joseph was called a saviour ;
and this word is the same as salus, salutis, (Vide Book X. Chap. V. Sect. 6.) The barbarian who
marched from the North and plundered Jerusalem, was a Scythian, or Tat-ar or Tartar 5 he was
called Shesach.9 This is nothing but Saxon or Sasenach. Tat is a name of Buddha,
Mohamed was called a Saca or Saceswara, as well as a Vicramaditya. These are all merely
descriptive epithets. And from the fact named above we find the reason why the Mohamedans
spared the statues of Buddha in India. It strongly confirms the doctrine of the secret religion
of the Mohamedans. Mohamed was thought to be a renewed incarnation of divine wisdom, and
of course of Buddha, in his tenth avatar.
1 Probably town of the Saxonnst softened to Soissons. * Guerin de Rocher, Vol. I. p. 152.
a Foreign Quart. Rev., July 1831, p. 224 ; and Vallancey, Coll Hib. Vol. V. pp. 12, 23, 34, 49, 181, 182.
* Parkh'urst, p. 733 ; vide Littleton's Diet, 5 Parkhurst, p, 734.
s See Cicero, de Divinat. Lib i. Cap. xxxi. 7 Vide Parkhurst in voce.
8 Vide Gueria de Rocher, Vol. I. p, 1 19, » Shishak, 2 Chron. xu. 7—9.
BOOK I. CHAPTER I. 3
Abrah. Ortelius en ses Synonymes et Thr&ors G6ographiques Scythise, a Persis Sagae, ut Mela
habet, vel Acae ut Plinius, Solinus, et Eustathius scribunt Scythia Saga est in originibus Catonis,
que circumferuntur.1
In the time of the Pharaohs the Egyptians had a class of persons called Sages or wise men.*
Considering that Saca means Buddha the God of Wisdom, I cannot much doubt that the Irish
Sagan, a priest, the Scandanavian Saga, the Hebrew po sgn, noble or great man, are all the same.
" The heathen Irish had their Sagan, like the Tyrians and Chaldaeans, Berosus gives the
" epithet of Sagan Ogygisan to Noah, The Sagau Cohenia was the Aristites Sacerdotum, i. e.
" primarius Sacerdotum post summum. 3 Sagan Babyloniorum sive Chaldsaorum vox, a quibus
t€ ad Hebrseos transivit." 4 The Cohenia is the Hebrew word for a priest— a Cohen ; and it is not
unlikely that the Chaons, who are said by the Indians and Persians to have erected the Druidical
circles, had their names from this word. I think it probable, also, that the Cohen had a near
relation to the Kan*
Vallancey says, from some author whose name he does not give, but I suspect from Georgius,
" In Indiis Xacse religio per omnes fere earum regionnm populos latissimfc funditur : tempus quo
ff Xaca vixerit, incertum est, plures sunt ex Europseis scriptoribus, qui floruisse velint Salomone
<e in Judaea regnante : non idem est et Xaca novus, i. e. Apollonius Tyaneus, qui floriut A. D. 60.
" (T, 161.) Xaeam eundem esse ac Buddum, La Crosius aliique non dubitant Xacae nominis
" origo a Saca Babiloniorum et Persaruin nutnine repetendo, Tibetanorum litera scribitur
u Sachia, quod idem est cum Sechia Sinensium (T. 21). Les Japonois se disent originaire du pais,
** on il est adore sous lenom de Budhu, et de Sommona-cadam."5 Baiiiy, p. 200, says, fc Le
fe Xaca des Japonais, le Sommona-chutana, du Pegu, le Sommona-kodam de Siam, le Butta des
c< Indiens, ne sont qu* un seul et m£me personage, regard^ ici comme un Dieu, la comme un
** legislateur— si j' ai bien prouv6 que Butta, Thoth et Mercure ne sont egalement que la m6me
ctf inventeur des sciences et des arts : ils en suivra que toutes les nations de 1* Asie, anciennes et
" modernes, n9 ont eu la philosophie et pour la religion, qu? un seul et m£me legislateur plac£ a leur
" origine. Alors je dirai que ce legislateur unique n'a pu aller partout dans T Asie, ni en m£me
** terns parceque, sans doute, il n'avait pas d'ailes: ni succe$sivement parceque la vie d'un
" homme ne suflferait pas aux voyages. L' existence de ce peuple ant6rieur est prouv^e par le
" tableau qui n'offre que des debris, astronomie oblige, philosophie m^ide a des absurdit6s,
" physique d^g€n€r^e en fables, religion epur€e, mais cachde sous un idolatrie grossi^re/* From
what my reader has seen in the tenth Book, I think he can have little or no doubt that the debris
here alluded to, refers to the refined and beautiful system of Wisdom there developed.
There is scarcely a corner of the globe where the doctrines of Wisdom may not, as a mythos,
be found. My learned friend Eusfcbe de Sajverte6 has clearly proved that, by the Sagas of the
Scandinavians, the books of Wisdom are meant— the word Saga being the same as the French
sagesse and the Latin sagax.
From the same author, p. 395, it appears that the Kazan ae or Razanui can be nothing but
children of Ras or Wisdom.7 Thus it is evident, that to speak of the Sacae or Saxons was the
same as to speak of the Buddhists* It was the general name, as we call many sects of Catholics
* Claude Duret, Hist, des Lang. p. 513. * Abb6 de Rocher, Vol. V. p. 173. 3 Jer. xx. 1.
* Buxtorf ; Vail. Coll. Hib. 5 Vail. ColL Hib. Vol. IV. Part I. p. 162.
6 Essai sur les Noms, Vol. II. pp. 3?3, 3?5, 381, 385.
7 I» the list of names given in p. 408, most of them are in reality Hebrew ; for instance* Aretia for earth is Aretz,
Arsa, the Sun, unn hw, &c.
B2
4 SAXONS,
or Protestants Christians. From this their sacred books were called Sacas or Sagas, as we call
the books of the Indians Vedas or Bedas, or, in fact, Buddhas or books of wisdom. This all
agrees very well with the learned language of Cashi-Mere or Cashmere having been Chaldee ; and
it accounts for Dr. Geddes' having found their language to be Hebrew. The Norwegian kings
were called Haquin. This is but Hakim or £D3n hkm; and the substitute for the Jewish high
priest was a Sagan. Closely allied to these is the Hebrew root *|tto k$p an enchanter,1 *)BO
ksp is literally two words, and means *yo sp, wise, and 3 k as, that is, as a wise person. Refer
to Vol. I. pp. 733, 734, to my explanation of Lokman.
Anciently all priests were physicians, and were called Hakim : (as physicians are yet called in
the East :) but this word always conveyed with it a sacredness of character. This is all in keeping
with their Gods— Odin, Woden, Thor; with the Bud was Trigeranos in Wales, and the Old Man
Budda in Scotland; all these came with the first or the second tribe of Saxons to the north of
Germany and to Britain.
Strabo says, 2 <e ALL the tribes eastward of the Caspian Sea are called Scythic : the Daae next
"the sea, and the Sacae more eastward ; but every tribe has a particular name; all are nomadic."
It is inattention to this which causes all our confusion. We have here the Clans of Scotland, and
the Tribes of Bedoween Arabs. The Sacae, pronounced in Sanscrit like our Sak-hse,3 have made
in Asia irruptions similar to those of the Cimmerians : thus they possessed themselves of Bactria,
and the district of Armenia, called after them Sacasena. Tjbis word, I believe, is only Sacas-ana,
country of Sacas. I have no doubt that when npmade tribes were driven out of the lands which
they loosely settled, they pissed, like the Israelites from Egypt, through countries occupied by
other tribes, in search of new habitations, till they could go no farther j then a desperate struggle
took place for the possession of the extreme country: thus Saxons arrived in Germany. and
Britain, from countries the most remote.
It appears from a note of Dr. Geddes's on the word create in the first verse of Genesis, to be
seen in bis Critical Remarks on that passage, that my view of this subject is supported by the
book of Wisdom, Justin Martyr, and Origen, "He also shews that a passage in the book of
Maccabees, which has been supposed to oppose my doctrine, has been wrongly translated. He
also shews that in the Scoto-Saxon dialect the word *ro bra still retains its original signification ;
and, in a note, he says, he hopes he shall one day be able to prove that almost all our genuine
Saxon words are either Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, or Persic. I am very sorry the Doctor did not
live to carry his intention into effect, which I am sure he could have done. I shall return to the
Saxons again in a future Book, and give their history, which will be found to be of the very first
importance,
1 See Frey's Hebrew Lex, 2 Lib, xi. » Tod's Hist. Raj, 59,
BOOK I. CHAPTER II. SECTION 1.
CHAPTER II.
GEORGIUS. — SCALA.
I. IN the extracts which I shall now give from Georgius will be found much useful information,
which I think will not be thought long or unnecessary by those who read for information and not
merely for amusement. The following passage justifies what I have said : " Gjam-phel sapiens
" mirificus, quasi QDH (hkm), Syr. Kam, >xb& (plai) Peli, vel &iam && (pla) Pele, SAPIENTJ&
" miraculum, aut etiam Arcanum" * Here we have in the Gjam the lao, the Wisdom, and the
Pala, or the Pallium, or Pallas, or Minerva, all united. A little before he says, u A Syria,
Chaldaeis ea vox " Gnos derivari potuit. Syris enim Ganes idem est ac ostendit et demonstravit.
Hinc Indorum " Ganessa SAPIENTIJE Deus, In Sota vero, teste Castello >D>15 gnm9 yvco<ri$i
" notitia."2 Again he says, "Profecto Gnios cum superaddito nota w>, quse est indicium magni
" alicujus arcani, eadein ipsa est Graeca vox YVaxrifr gnosis, agnitio" 3> IE, in Syriac lo, was
the God of Wisdom or Knowledge. In Hebrew 'letters lo was written p> io; this, as the He-
brew letter o was corrupted into ng, was'tha origin of thegnios. The God of Wisdom was the
spiritual fire. He was Agni, Write this in the Syriac or Pnshto dialect, but the Chaldee letter,
and we have #y> ioa, the last letter being emphatic, the lo.
Georgius says,4 " Pho-tha Sinica voce dictus Budda," (This Pho-tha is evidently the Phtha or
Thas of Egypt. 5 ) " Jah, quod additur, JAO interpreter, magnum scilicet, et ineffabile iliud Dei
" nomen JBHOVA a Gnosticis et Basilidianis corruption, et in Jao improbo ingenio mutatunu Si
" cognita fuissent Tyrbani nomina magica, quse Budda preceptor Manetis invocare solebat, inter
" ea fortasse reperiretur JAO. Nam et apud Paganos nomen hoc Dei sanctissimum erat Quod
" quidem eruditis omnibus compertum est. * Fewardentiw et Galassius aniinadvers. in S. Irensei
t( libros factum putant ex Hebr. n* J& cum addito o, JAO. Samaritani, teste Theodoreto et adno-
" tatore Grabio in eundem Irenaeum," Jabe (here we have the Jave or Jove) illud appellasse dicun-
** tur, Judaei vero Ala Aja, quod est Hebraic^ n^ ie Jah, Tibetice pariter Jah* In his igitur voci-
" bus PHOTA-JAH, nominatus cernitur*XACHA tatnquawi magnus ille Lhamarum, et Bonsiorum
et DBUS BUDDA." 6 In the Aja here named may be the origin of the Aje-mere treated of in Vol.
L pp. 405, 407, 408, &c,, atfd in the whole passage there is a* confirmation of several other sugges-
tions of mine in the former part of this work.
Georgius/ without hating the slightest suspicion of the nature of my theory, states his, opinion
that the Kam-deva is derived from, or is the same as, the Qsrr hkm or wisdom of the Chaldee. It
is very certain that, if my theory be right, every deity resolves into the Sun ; each one of their
names, either directly or indirectly, ought to have the meaning of wisdom.* Kam *tte j^sa-
pientia.
Was not Ep«u£ often used as the name of Venus as well as Cupid ? In like manner Kanya, the
name of Cristna, was also the name of the Zodiacal sign Virgo.9 Ego>£ read anagratmnatieally is
i Georgius, Alpb, Tib. p. 750, * P. 749. 3 P. 748, * P. 745.
* Vide p. 747- 6 Ibid. p. 746. » Ibid, III, p* 728.
6 See also ibid, 750. ' ^ Bentley, p. 202,
6
GEOR&IUS. — SCAL \.
nothing but me, from which Jesus was called the Rose — the rose of Sharon — of Is-uren. And
from this came the Rossi- crusians.
The Cabalistic Jews often insert the jod or prefix it to words, as they say, for the sake of a
mystery; but in reality for the same reason that the Irish Bishop writes his name X Doyle.
This practice admitted, I believe that C-ama was both Cupid and Venus, Cama and Cama-deva,
HDD kme, desiderare, amare,1 and was in fact C or X-ama. See pp. 760, 761 , and Appendix to
the first volume. Cuma was the same, as was also Kumari or Komari on Cape Cornarin, near
which ruled the Xamorin or Zamorin, or Semiramis. Was Comarin the Coma-Marina ? I believe
that Caesar was X-sesar — Tzar, whence the female Tzarina. I believe that IIX0YS, as I have
formerly said (Vol. I. p. 636), is I-IX0TS: and that in like manner also Mama is M-ama; that
Momptha is M-Omptha ; that Mia is M-ia or M-ie. I is the tenth letter of the new alphabet, and
M is the tenth letter of the sixteen-letter alphabet. Then * i in the Hebrew notation answers to
the X in the Etruscan, Oscan, or Latin, which we have seen stands both for 10 and 600. This is
like the Samech, which is the Mem final. As the Samech it is 60 \ as Mem final, 600. The
S called Xi, is 60, X Chi, 600. The Hebrew m> ss is six— Greek ES sg six j the aspirant
breathing, as in other cases,2 being substituted for the sibillant letter, which, however, is found
in the Latin, Saxon, and English, «#.
lodia is Ayoudia. I suspect that the Ad of Rajahpoutana and Western Syria, and Hadad, is
lad, or I-hadad ; that IE is lo y> io of Syria ; that God, Chod, is Od, Hod. a In all the cases
above, the I, the X, and the M, are monograms prefixed for the sake of mystery, as we constantly
see the X prefixed to sentences when not used as a letter, in our religious books of the middle
ages ; and as Romish priests still use it,
The lod is a point, the Centre is a point, every thing tends to the Centre.
The word Saca. I believe is found in the Hindoo word Para-mchti. The Tibetian language
has no B. Para is tro #ra, creator. Sack is, in the Egyptian language, Jlamma, and Ti is Di,
sacred^ holy. Georgius4 says, Para-sachti is 6t excellentissima virtus, &c., primam emanationem
" Dei ; Flammam fluentem a Deo." But I do not doubt that it was also akme or hkm* In fine,
it is divine WISDOM.*
Parasakti, Adisakti, Devaki, and Parakta, have all the same meaning. Para or Ad, and
Devaki, mean the Deity, and sakti aflame.* These are also the same as Bavani and Mama-ja.
Sometimes Parasakti is masculine, sometimes feminine. Sakti is also the same as verbum and
sapiential Chati, I am persuaded, is the same as Sacti, and is the Hebrew nm hte, and in
English means heat. Substituting, as Parkhurst says was very common in the Hebrew, the W s9
the sibillant letter for the aspirate H A, the word would become sati. I am quite satisfied we have
here, or in the word just now named, Sci-akham, the meaning of the Saca or Xaca, and that it
means the Logos, the Sapientia, the Ras.
Parasakti, like Semele, the mother of Bacchus, was combustam in aethereo igne.8 Sfre was con-
sumed in the flames of her son. This is the assumption of the blessed virgin, which took place in
the autumn, when the constellation of Virgo disappears, and is tendered invisible by the solar
rays.0 But Para-sacti was Lachmi, and Lachmi was nothing but L'hkm,, the wise.
fe Ex his, quse mecum inter viam communicarunt laudati PP. Cappucini e Tibetknis Missioni-
" bus reduces, protinus intellexi tarn arcto et inseparabili vinculo apud eas gentes duo hsec, litteras
1 Georg p 728. • Parkhurst, p. 776,
3 But Georgius (AJp. Tib. p. 685) has shewn, Ad or Adad or Hadad, in Syria, to be Buddha.
* P. 97, a Ib. p. 98, ° Ib. 7 ft), s'ib. p. 102. « Vide Dupuis.
BOOK I. CHAPTER II. SECTION 1. 7
" et superstitionem, inter se cohoereseere, ut alterum sine altero nee pertractari, nee cogitari
" quaeat. Ut enim video, queni admodum defluunt radii & natura solis, sic litteras ab ipsa Dei
66 substantia defluxisse concipiunt. Simile quiddam de Vedam Bramhse, deque Atzala Isureni
" libro, opinantur Indi/'1 The truth of the observation respecting the close connexion between
letters and superstition cannot be denied, and thus this beautiful invention, which ought to have
been the greatest blessing to mankind, has been, till lately, its 'greatest curse. But if at first it
forged the chain, it will break it at last,
On the Tibetian alphabet Georgius says, te Aliud quid longe majus atque prsestantius de litte-
" rarum suarum natura, ac dignitate Tibetani opinantur. Istas uti prodigiosa quaedam munera e
" coalo demissa venerantur : Deoque Sapientia Giam-Jang tanquam auctori, et artifici principi
cc referurit acceptas." When I consider the Deoque Sapientice, the name of the country Achim,
the Pushto in North and South India, the evident Judsean mythos in both, I cannot help suspect-
ing that the Deus Giam- Jang is the God or lao of Siam or Sion, in the country of Judia, adjoining
to the present Nepaul and Tibet. The close connexion between letters and superstition, noticed
by Georgius, tends materially to support my opinion, that letters were at first mythical and magi-
cal, and we know that they were every where supposed to emanate from the Deity. Georgius
explains the word Tangut to mean Dominus Cceli et Terroe. If the T be a nominal prefix, the
a— K, ng:r#, u~i, thus Aou. Tangut is the name of God in Peru. Georgius then goes on to explain
that Ti~bet is Ti-bot, or Ti-bout, or Ti-Boutta, or Di-Buddha,2 He adds, " Hoc'vero recta oritur
" k gentili Pot-Jid, quo certo nomine non ante famosi Buttae tempora insigniri ea natio ccepit/' 3
Tibet is called Potyid by Sir W. Jones.4 He makes an important observation on the nature of the
Tibetian language,5 which appears to be in a great measure Monosyllabic, and thus tends to
prove its antiquity. He then goes on to state that Jid is a cognomen of Buddha, and means
Unicus or IJnigenitus ; 6 and that it is the ee Jehid Phoenicium, aut Ihido Syrum." (It is, in fact,
li-di.) He confirms almost all which I have before given from Creuzer respecting Buddha, On
the name of Xaca, he says it is called, in the Tibetian language, Sdakham. That is, I suppose,
th,e Sci-akham or Hakim, just now treated of.
I suspect that the Phoenician Jehid or lid, is nothing but the Chaldee II of the Targums, with
an abbreviation of the Deus, Dis, Deva, and means the God IL
The Deity Isan and Isuren of India was the Isis of Egypt. The name came from the Hebrew
yw> isoy with the Tamul termination in en, Isur-en. This deity is the same as Mahdeusr and
Mahadeva. It has generally four arms, and is often seated on the Lotus. Fire is its peculiar
emblem. It has three teyes. It is also often carried on a BULL. One of its epithets is Hy-
dropism, 7 This is the Gre,ek fifonp and Iir*£, and connects it with the refined doctrine of water,
which approaches to something very near to the spiritual fire and the hydrogen of the moderns.
It is adored under the form of the Linga, or Priapus. It is Pluto, the Egyptian Amenti and the
Giam Indicus* It is Brahma and Tchiven. 6( Dominus humidce natures et origo sacrorum flumi-
" num," the Giam Indicus — judex universorum. From the word Giam comes, I suspect, the Ganga
or Janga. Finally, Georgius says, " Sol est Isuren, qualis erat Osiris apud Egyptios."6
It is said of Mani that he left a book of paintings* In one of the apocryphal Gospels Jesus is
said to have been the son of a Dyer or a Painter, another of a Potter, in the four of a Carpenter",
and in all of an Artificer. Georgius says, Cfi Verum non opus est multis, ut ostendara orfe&tales
4 Georg. AlpL Tib. pnjef. p, ix, * Alpfc. Tib. p. 16. * ftset J); 10,
4 Asfot Res. Vot JIL p, 10. * P. 11. < Ib. p. xi, * <ieorg. Alpk Tib. p. 156,
• P. 185,
8
SCALA.
£( omnes nno eodemque nomine Pictoreni, Tinctoremque vocare. Vide Castellura in ym (zko).
" Quum vero Arteng diciraus, eoque designamus Librum picturarum Mani, (quia, ut inquit
ef Renaudotius, figuris peregrinis, et ignotis refertus erat,) intellegere debemus Librum eo sensu,
" quo intelligunt Brammhanes Vedam, et Tibetani Cid sive Cioch. Nempe, ut Fedam est Bramha,
€t et ci6 Xaca, ita Arteng est ipse Mani, virtw, emanatio Patris luminum, efmque Filius, et anima
te dans et accipiens formas, ac figuras omnes in eo portentoso mysterioruni libro contentas/'1
Here we find Brahma and Buddha both having the meaning of the word Book. Here is con-
firmed what I have before said that Feda is Seda or Buddha. The book of the Manichseans was
called the treasure, and being a Veda would be a treasure of Wisdom. Bacchus is called Liber,
ton bha and mn tut, which in Chaldee mean Morus, the name of the Morea of Greece. a The
Morus or Mulberry-tree is a very mystical plant ; it is said to be sapientissima arbor. It was
probably thus designated because it had the same name as the God of Wisdom. Brahma is the
same as Brahaspati, who is worshiped the same day as Suarasuoti, (Sara-iswati,) the Dea
sdentiarum: from this, Georgius says, he thinks the word Brahma came to mean Scientia.
The truth is, wherever Scientia is found, Sapientia may be written. 3
We have seen, in p. 320, that the natives of Siam call their God lach lach, the Greek lacchg.
Now, is it not possible that in the Tibetian language this may be the Siakhim, the aspirated ODH
hkm— and this Siak and lacch the same ? Parkhurst says, the aspirate breathing is constantly
substituted for the sibillant letter.4 This would make Saca laca. The festivals of Bacchus
in Greece were called lacaea.5
" AtTyphon ab eodem Plutarcho exPhrygiis literis dicitur filius Isaacci Icractxs ra 'HpaxXee^
" o TLV$GW, Isaacci, quern genuit Hercules, filius fuit Typhon." d May Isaac, the son of Hercules,
who was Cristna, who was Samson, have come from yjtf> iso9 to save, and Xaca, or from I and
Xaca, or from yt£P iso and cron hkm f Either of these etymons is strictly in keeping with the
remainder of the mythos.
Brahma is said to have been the inventor of Hymns and Verses, and the Brahmins are not
permitted to recite but only to sing the Vedas, To account for this they have a story of Brahma,
like Jupiter for the* love of Leda, being turned into a swan. When he was about to be killed by
Iswara, he sung hymns and verses to her praise, to pacify her. From this came the story of the
musical singing of swans when they are about to die.7
Brahma, carries a book as an emblem. This was because he was the first emanation or divine
Wisdom, and the Wisdom contained in the Veda or book of Wisdom came from him. Hence, in
Greece, Bacchus or Brahme was called Liber. 8
I think, from a passage in Georgius, the real origin of the meaning of the term Judah or Juda,-—
the religion or the name of the tribe way be discovered,— of the tribe or religion, which Eusebius
said existed before the time of Abraham. He observes, that Buddha k cajled Jid, tvhich is the
same as leoud, who was the s6n of Saturn, «ind that it is merely an epithet, meaning Unigenitum,
Hebrseis est w (Mtid) lehid Isaa<so3 , epithet <im. ? Gen,'xxii. 2. 10 No# I think this shews that
the tribe were followers of the Unigenitum, in shorfy of the Logos or Buddha, who was the only-
begotten of his Father.
i Tib. Alph. 9 Vail, Coll. Hib. Vol. IV. Part I p. 265. 3 Georg, p 114.
4 In voee »» ss> II. p. 776, * Vide Hermes Scythicus, p, 136. ° Georgius Alph. Tib, p, 26.
7 Vide Georg. Alph. Tib. p. 1 10. 8 Ib, p, 1 14, '9 Bocliarto.
1° Georg. Alph, Tib. Sect. xi.
BOOK I. CHAPTER II. SECTION 2. 9
Again Georgius says, 1 u Brevi, Xaca Jehid> Ihido, and Xhid, (quod est insigne cognomentum et
" attributum Buddce, But<z, sive Boto in vernacul£ voce Tibeti Pot-Tit,) Poto scilicet, seu Boutta
" Unigenitus aut Primogenitus." He had before shewn that Jehid was Juda; hence we come to
the fact, that the tribe of Isaac, Ihid, or Judah, was a tribe of Buddhists.
2. The Scala or ladder, formerly alluded to in Vol. I. p. 413, I believe signified a chain or ladder
of transmigration, by which the soul climbed up to heaven, 2 and that Scala or Sacala is Xaca-clo,
and came to mean a ladder, or the ladder of the Mount of Solyma, or Peace or Salvation, from the
ladder of metamorphoses or regenerations. The system of regeneration is exactly that of a ladder.
The dream of Jacob, with the seventy- two angels ascending and descending, the mysticism of
which no one will deny, alludes to this : the Xaca-clo is the series of ten regenerations, which the
Brahmins taught that every human being passed through. In the names of Sicily we have, first,
Siculia, as it is called by Virgil, which is Xaca-clo-ia ; this was Buddhist. The next was, Trina-cria
or Trina-crios— the Triune Aries ; this was Crestism.3 In Vol. I. pp. 813—816, I represented the
double trinity and the system of emanations to form a chain, the last link of the first forming the
first link of the second } and thus the1 whole system, beginning at the To Oj>? formed a chain or a
ladder from the highest to the lowest.
Is it possible th&t the veneration for Apes may have taken its .rise from a word of the ancient
language— the Chaldean misunderstood ? Georgius says, 4 *c Simi& Arabic^ QiTO bram, Boratn,
** Africanis C313 brm," It is well known,, to all Indian scholars, that Crfetna is said to have invaded
Ceylon, accompanied by an army of Monkeys, by whose means he conquered it \ and we are told
that this is the belief of the country. The simple fact was, that the sectaries of the Crest, the
Brahmins, invaded it, and the whole arises from (the identity in the Indian language of the words
for Brahmin and Ape or Monkey. In this manner numbers of little mythoses have arisen in all
parts of the world. In a similar manner arose the mythos of Bacchus's grapes. The word for
grape in Greek is BoTpt^, this is a corruption of Buddha, and Bacchus was Buddha, and Buddha
was Wisdom; whence the grape in Latin is called ratf»w$—*evidently the Hebrew Ras, wisdom^
and the ePa|f, the stone of the gra/pe. '
Salivahana is also called Saca* 5 In Bali they have a period called the year of Saca. °
The Grod in the temple on the mountain of Lawuh, in Java? is called Sukuh, 7 This is the
mountain of L/Awu or THE Ieo9 and his name Saca.
The krgfc, .temples in Java are built without cement in the joints, in the Cyclopean order of
architecture — all the st<me$ mortised together. 9
We are constantly told by all travellers, that the Lama of Tibet is adored as God, But in this
I do not doubt that our travellers permit their prejudice and bigotry to blind them. If he be con-
sidered to be the Supreme Being5 how cajne the ,Tibetians to have a most magnificent temple to
Buddha, at Lassa, the place of the Lama'6 vepicte&ce } of which a ground-plan is given in Georgius. °
The fact is, the followers of the Lamb al Rome elect their Vicramaditya or Grand Vicar from
themselves, generally choosing the most imbecile of the college for the God upon earth, as he does
call, or used to call, himself. The followers of the Lamb in Tibet have found it better to select an
* Sect, cxxiu, * Vide Georgius Alph. fib. Ap.'iil p» 678*
9
* From this idea the division of any given space into equal parts, and probably from the decimal &op(tita,l4M parts,
was called a Scala or £calc.
* Aipfa, Tib. p, 28, * Cravrfurd, Etet. Ind. Arch, V<^ I, p. 300, Ibid.
7 i'b; Vol. II. pL 18. V Ifc, p. W9, & geek' cxliii. p. 406.
> <J July 28, 1833.
10 JCTD31AN MYTHOS IN EGYPT*
infant, whom they educate. The same reason operates in both conclaves. In each, a similar
cause produces a similar effect,— au imbecile Lama.
The whole of what we have seen respecting Saca and the Saxons, must be considered as a pre-
paration for an inquiry into a Pontifical government, (to be developed in the future books,)
which was brought with the feudal system to England and Europe, long before the time of Caesar.
It will be found useful also in considering the origin of letters*
CHAPTER III.
JUDJEAN MYTHOS IN EGYPT.^MENES. NOAH. — CHERES.-^ ABRAHAM TULIS. — JOSEPH.'— GEECIAN HISTORY
A TBAVESTY.— IANGUAGE OF EGYPT. — DEISUL VOYAGE OP SALVATION.
I NOW beg my reader to recall to his recollection the multitude of fragments of the Christian and
Jewish mythos which, in his reading, he must have found scattered about Upper Egypt. I beg
him to look at and read the accounts of my Figures 27 B and 35. These things are all disguised or
instantly put out of sight by the assertion, that* they are the remains of the Gnostic or Nfedtorian
(that is, as the learned Nimrod says, the Buddhists) Christians. The existence of the mythos,
which I shall now exhibit, in Egypt, easily accounts for and explains all these hitherto inexplicable
remains of the Jewish and Christian mythos, on the ancient temples in Upper Egypt and in
Nubia, As might be expected, the prejudices of education have operated on the learned German
Heeren, to blind him to the Jewish and Christian mythos ; but ,yet, in one instance, the truth in-
voluntarily creeps out. He says, " Another field opens itself here for divines, if they would like
w to compare the religious notions of ancient Thebes with the descriptions given by the Jews of
" their sanctuaries, the tabernacle, the temple, and the sacred utensils.
" This is not the place for a comparison of this kind : but how many things described in the
u Scriptures do we find in these engravings ! the ark of the covenant (here carried in procession),
" the cherubim with their extended wings, the holy candlesticks, the shew bread, and many parts
" of the sacrifices ! In the architecture itself a certain similarity is instantly recognised, although
** among the Jews every thing was on a smaller scale/' * In his maps the temples of Meroe, in
several instances, appear built in the exact cross*form of our churches,
The observation of Heeren, I shall now shew, has befen confirmed by a very learned Frenchman,
the Abb6 Gueriu de Rocher. But my reader will be kind enough to observe, that although the
similitudes pointed out by Heeren, amount to almost a proof of my theory, they, in -a similar
manner, amount almost to a proof of the falsity of the AbbfeV theory, which will now be ex-
plained.
After finding the Judaean mythos, the mythos which Eusebius asserts existed before Abraham,
in North and South India, in Syria, and in China, it would have been very singular if it had not
been found in Egypt. This singularity has been proved not to exist by the Abb6 Guerin de
1 Heeren, on Egypt, Vol. II. p. 297
BOOK I. CHAPTER HI. SECTIONS. 11
Rocher, who has undertaken to shew, in his work called Histoire des Temps Fabuleux9 that the
history of Egypt, detailed by Herodotus, Diodorus, Suidas, Manetho, &c., is not a true history of
Egypt, but a mere travesty of the history of the Jews ; and however much I may differ from him,
both generally and in many particulars, yet I think he has proved his case, so far as to shew, that
the two were, in many instances, substantially the same, as they ought to be, if they were nothing
but a repetition of the same mythos; but which they could not possibly be, and be at the same
time both true histories of countries, as he very justly observes. All this tends strongly to prove
that Herodotus was really the father of history, the first real historian : all the works before his,
being mere mythoses, founded on the traditionary, unwritten stories of each country, detailed by
the priests for the purpose of religion, not of history*
It is necessary to observe, that the Abbd does not pretend to shew merely that parts of the
Egyptian history agree with and dovetail into such parts of the history of the Jews as relate to
respective periods, but that the Egyptians have taken the Jewish history, and have travestied it
(to use his word) to form a new history. Between* these two my reader must perceive that there
is a mighty difference. Had he shewn the former, he would indeed have greatly strengthened the
Jewish history as a history, but the latter is another matter,
The Abbd has exhibited so much skill and ingenuity in discovering the meaning of several para-
bles called parts of the Egyptian history, that I have no doubt whatever,, if he had been unfettered
by religious prejudice, he would have made oat the whole ,mythos. The discoveries he has made
did not arise from his abstract love of truth, but merely from a belief that it would enable him the
better to defend his own religion and the interests of his order.
He supposes that the history of Egypt was completely lost by the natives, in the course of the
period when the Persians possessed it, after the conquest of it by Cambyses, - Nothing but the
excess of religious prejudipe could have induced any one to believe, that, in the short time during
which the Persians possessed Egypt, all knowledge of their ancient history, and of their history at
that time not properly ancient to them, should be completely lost by the natives, and also that
they should all of them have been so totally devoid of understanding, as that they could not make
up a story of their own to pass off as a history of their country, but that they should be obliged
to go to the little distant mountain tribe which Herodotus could not discover, said to have been
driven out of their country several hundred years before, to borrow their history, by a travesty or
transfer of which they made up a history for themselves * —not using the names of their own
kings, bat actually names out of the history of the distinct mountain tribe just alluded to ? The
Abb6 has been attacked in no very measured or very fair terms by several of the philosophers,
on account of his etymologies and .other little matters \ but he has been very ably and successfully
defended. His opponents do not appear to have touched upon the absurdity of the theory to
account for these travesties, or historic parables. As all party writers do, they laid told of ex-
ceptions-^-they seized on and exposed particular points, but the general whole, which they ought
to have attacked, they left untouched. In fact, the Abbe, overthrew all their previous doctrines,
, and not having the least, idea of any universal mythos, or other cause, to account for the unde-
niable effect pointed out by him, ' they could give him no reasonable answer, though the general
absurdity of the cause ^hich he assigned, or the way in which he accounted for the effect, was
evident £nopgh. They ought candidly to have admitted the' fact of the identity of th$
of Genesis and of Egypt, and have said, " We admit the identity vou contend for) , we C
1 Whyrdid they fcjtf go to, their atofolisK wtioli J& qhai^fc* W ftopii cohered jvSii ri^r lafees ? Why 2 but
because M,Champoll^n has discovered noihing!
' " "
12
NOAH.
" deny it ; but the reason which you assign for the identity appears to us absurd, and we cannot
" admit it : there must be some other reason for it, which is yet unknown." This would have
been candid; but instead of this, as defeated parties usually uct, they had recourse to ridicule,
misrepresentation, and clamour, and endeavoured to poh-poh him down.
The Abb6 says, " Je commence par les temps fabulcux des Egyptiens, depuis M£nfcs, leur
" premier roi, suivant tous leurs historiens, jusqu' au temps ou T Egypte^ soumise aux Perses,
<ff devint une province de leur empire. On verra, par un rapprochement soutenu de toute la suite
*' des rfcgnes, et des faits de chaque rfcgne, que cette histoire r£pond & 1' histoire sainte, depuis No6,
*e le p£re de tous les hommes d'apres le deluge, jusqu' a la fin de la captivit£ des Juifs a Babylone:
" et que ce n'est m£me qu'un extrait suivi, quoique d6figur6, de ce que TEcriture elle-m6me
*c nous appiend de FEgypte dans cet intervalle ; en un mot, que tout ce qu' H^rodote, Man^thon,
" Eratosthene et Diodore de Sicile nous racontent del'Egypte jusqu' & cette £poque, n'est, aux
"descriptions pros, qu'une traduction, a la v&ite, pleine d'erreurs et de fautes grossieres, que
" les Egyptiens s'etoient faite ou procuree des endroits de TEcriture qui les regardent, et dont ils
" s*6toient composd une histoire; c'est le sujet de trois premiers volumes que je pr£seute au
cc public.5' l This is a very different matter from having taken parts of the Jewish history, to fill
up the lacunas in the corresponding parts of their own history.
The Abba's assertion that, in the time of Menes, the first king, whose name was, in fact, the same
as that of Noah, Egypt was a marbh, with the exception alone of the district of Thebes, which com-
prised all Upper Egypt, that is, that it was covered with water, is in exact accordance with what I
have said in Vol. I. pp. 291 , &c., and 336. He afterward shews that the history of Thebes is a travesty
of the history of the flood of Noah and of the Ark. That the same particulars are4n both the
histories, — that from Thebes the doves went out, — that the name Thebes for that c\ty and the ark
are the same, — that at Thebes an immense ship was built, and that the first men and animals of the
present world came out from Thebes, &c., &c« • But I will now give to my reader, an extract from
the work of Mons. Bonnaud, 2 one of the Abbess defenders, in which, abstracted from the Abb6's
book, he places by the side of each other the History of Herodotus and of Genesis, which will serve
to give a general idea of the nature of the Abbe's work better than any description which I can
write.
Debutons par 1'arche de Noe, laquelle s'appelle en H6breu THBE, que les Egyptiens ont prise pour le ville de
Thebes ; nous verrons en suite 1' histoire de Jacob traveshe par eux en celle de S&ostns, roi conqu6rant. Tenons-
nous-en pour le moment £ ces deux morceaux que 1'auteur de V histoire vMable
1.
hommes.
HISTOIRE D' EGYPTE.
est celui qui regna le premier des
HISTOIRE SAINTE.
L Noe*, dont le none* en H6breu est N6 ou Mn6e,
son derive, (jui signifie r&pos, 3 esl le pfere coramun de
tous les peuples : c'est danjs 1'Ecriture le premier horame
qui r£gne dans un sens aprfcs le d&uge : ' puis qu* il
se trouve le chef et le souverain naturel de tout le sjenrc
humain reduit alors i sa famille.
t P. xlh'L
2 Vol. V. p. 6. Histoire Des Temps Fabuleux, Tome V. 8vo. & Paris. P«ir L' Abb<£ Gu^rin de Rocher. Chez
Gautier et Freres, et Co. 1824.
3 M, en H£breu est uue lettre servile au commencement clu mot J'ai cru que, pour me mettre plus t\ port6e des
lecteurs qui ignorent les langues anciennes, il convenoit d^crire enlettres ordinances les mots H&>reu.r clout il m'u
fallu toe -an frequent usage, vu la nature de 1'objet que je me propose de cliscuter. Ceux qui seroient ourieax de
verifier ces mots de la langue H^braique, peuvent recourir & V histoire v&rlfable des temps fabvleux.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 3,
13
2. Du terns de Menes toute 1'Egypte n'&oit qu'un
marais a" ^exception du seul nome ou canton de TJwbes,
c'est-a;-dire, qu'elle etait tout inondde.
3. Les habitans de Th&bes se disoient les plus an-
ciens des hommes.
4. A Thebes fut construit nn grand navire de pros
de trois cents coudte de long.
5. H&odote dit que deux columbes s' etoient envo-
lees de Thebes en differentes contr6es.
6. Les animaux, suivant les Egyptiens, furent formes
d'abord dans le pays de Thebes.
7. Meiies apprit aux peoples £ bonorer les Dieux et
a leur faire des saci ifices,
8. Mcn£s fut le premier & introduire le luxe de la
table.
9. Les habitans de Th&bes se vantoient d'avoir e*t£
les premiers h, connoltre la vigne.
2. Du temps de Nofc, non seulement VEgypte, mais
la terre entire fut inondee par le deluge, et ce nome
de Thebes9 qui seul ne Moit pas, c'est I'arche qui se
sauva du deluge. THBE ou comme on prononce THE-
BAH, est le mot constamment employe" dans le texte
He*breu pour sigmfier arche. ,
3. Thbe ou Thebah (I'arche de Noe*} renferma en
effet dans son sem les peres de tous les hommes, et par
consequent les plus anciens de tous, i dater du deluge
qui fut comme un renouvellement du genre humain*
4. La Thbe ou la Tfiebah, I'arche de Noe* , avoit trois
cents coudies de longueur.
5. No6 fait envoler une columbe par deux fois de sa
Thbe ou de son arche, pour s'assurer, avant que d'en
sortir, que la terre a &6 dessfccbee.
6. L'Ecnture dit que tous les ammaux furent ren-
ferm^s dans 1* arche,* et en sortirent, Thbe en Hebreu
signifiant Tarche, voil^t comme tou$ les animaux sont
sortis de Thebes.
7. Mn^e autrement No6 au sortir de I'arche el&vo, un
aidd au Seignew, dit 1'Ecriture • • • * * •& offnt des Ao/o-
caustes wr cet autel, par consequent, des sacrifices*,
8. Noe* aprls le deluge eut la permission expresse de
se nournr de la chair des animaux.
9. Noe* en sorcant de I'arche fThbeJ fut le premier
qui planta la vigne.
That the two stories are closely connected no one cau doubt : but the Abba's theory, that the
Egyptian is a travesty of that of the Jews, to which the Egyptians had recourse in consequence
of the destruction, by Cambyses, of all their records, receives a terrible blow from an observation
which he makes in the next page — that the same history is told of the Grecian Thebes as is told
of the Thebes of Egypt. The consequence of this the Abb£ does not perceive, viz. that it is
totally incredible that they should both be the s&me, without a common cause, and this coul,d not
be the conquest by Cambyses, because he never conquered the Grecian Thebes. In fact, it over-
throws the Abb£*s whole system; but it confirms mine beautifully, viz* that the stories are ail
one common mythos, in all countries disguised in the dregs of history. Accident could not possi-
bly be the cause.
The Abba's observation, that the word used for the name of Thebes is exactly the same word as
that used to describe the ark of Noah, again overthrows the whole of his system : for the ancient
city of Thebes destroyed by Cambyses, and sung of by Homer, under the name of Thebes^ could
not have had its name given by the priests about the time of Herodotus, which is what1 the Abb6's
system requires* The very great antiquity of the names of the cities of Thebes in Egypt and
Greece, as proved by Homer, takes from under the edifice erected by the Abb£ every part of its
foundation* It is not credible' that one or both these cities should have this name given as a sub-
stitute for the real history lost in Cambyses* conquest, though* there can be no doubt that the
history of Genesis and of Herodotus are the same.
S. I have observed, Vol. L p. 602, that the kings of Egypt, whose names ended ia oheres, were
renewed incarnations of the Xp>j£, mitis. On these kings the Abb6 says, " Myc6Hnus, successeur
de Ch6pbren ou Cfyabryis, appel!6 par Diodore, Mench&inus ou Cb€riuusj par Eratosth£ne,
14
CHERES.
Caras ouQcaras; par Manethon, Men-cheres, et de quantite d'autres noms termines en eer£s
ou cherfes, sans compter ceux qui ne le sont pas ; roi plein de douceur, de religion et d'£quit£,
qui rend an peuple opprinife la Iibert6 de sacrifier, qui le soulage dans ses maux, qui se rend
recommendable par son extreme exactitude £ rendre la justice: qui va jusqu' a satisfaire k ses
d&pens, ceux qui se plaignent de ses jugements : qui est condamn£ par 1* oracle a mourir avant
le temps ; qui prend le parti d'errer dans des lieux solitaires, oil il se fait 6clairer la nuit, comme
le soleil V 6claire durant le jour" 1 1 think few persons will fail to see in this early chres or
X^£, the prototype of a later one. The same mythos is here, and this cannot be disputed.
We have here in the mourir avant le temps, the person crucified in Egypt of the Apocalypse. The
Abbe after this proceeds to shew, that the Cheres was Moses, but this only tends to strengthen the
proof that Moses was an Avatar, * a Messiah, a divine incarnation, saving his people, in fact a
Xp»j£. Amidst the blunders and confusion of the different historians of Egypt, it is easy to see
here, the Christian mythos $ even the name Xpj£ is found in the word Chceres, 3 one name of
what is called by Manetho the second dynasty, consisting of three kings, Has, Sethen&s, Chceres,4
evidently the mistaken Tripety. And we must not forget the infant Orus, and the Virgo paritura.
4. The Abb6 finds Abraham in Binothris, whom he asserts to be £n- Thr6 mn-p bn tre, or
Ben-Therah, son of Terah, This Binothris he shews was said by Manetho to be succeeded by a
king called Tulis. Binothris is said to have established the first queen in Egypt, or to have
first given to females the honours of Royalty. This queen was Sarah, whose name when changed
from Sarai meant, instead of a queen or princess, the queen. After Binothris, Manetho
puts Has or Tulis ; but this person the Jews and Arabs make to be the ravisher of Sarah. The
different historians, all ignorant of the true state of the case, confound the parties $ but they are
all evidently here. The word Tulis means ravisher in the Hebrew and Arabic. B Thus Tulis
or Has was the stealer or ravisher of Sarah, the sister of Abraham. The history of this Tulis, as
given by Suidas, is very remarkable.6 He says, " Thulis reigned over all Egypt, and his empire
" extended even over the ocean. He gave his name to one of its isles (Ultima Thule). Puffed
" up with success, he went to consult the oracle of Serapis 5 and, after* having offered his sacrifice,
" he addressed to him these words : *Tell me, Oh, master of Fire, the true, the happy par excel-
" 'lence, who rulest the course of the stars,— tell me if ever there was before one greater than I,
" *or will ever be one greater after me.' The oracle answered him in these words : * First God,
6 afterward the Word, and with them the Holy Spirit:7 all three are of the same nature, and
'make but one whole, of which the power is eternal; go away quickly, mortal, thou who hast
'but an uncertain life/ Going out from the temple he was put to death by his own countrymen
in ,the country of the Africans." (A$g«)v.)8 But the most remarkable part of this story is,
that the word Tulis means crudJM, rhntle, suspendit: »&n tlui, suspends, cmcifixus. Here
in the country of the Africans— in Egypt we have again the crucified of the Apocalypse. Thlui
is the name given by the Jews to Jesus Christ,9 meaning the crucified* Scrapis^ the God con-
sulted, was regarded as the Saviour of Egypt. 10 I have little doubt that Serapis was put to death
as well as Osiris, but that he was crucified. It was under his temple at Alexandria that the cross
' Histoire Des Terns Fabuleaux. Tome V. p. 136, .
8 The word Avatar is piobably abl&-tur, a renewal of father, Tur.
3 P' m 4 P- 29?. * Ib. p, 298.
6 See, for the answer of the Oracle to Sesostris, Vol, I. p,,805,
8 Ib, p. 403. $ Th. n. 30& jo IK « oAft
c f <
66 <
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 4. 15
was found when it was destroyed by one of the Roman Emperors. We cannot forget that Serapis
was considered by Hadrian and the Gentiles to be the peculiar God of the Christians.
The Egyptian history is evidently a garbled, and, in many respects, a confused misrepresenta-
tion of the same history or mythos as that of the Jews ; the Abbe attributes this misrepresen-
tation to the ignorance of the Egyptians in the Jewish language, but who, on the contrary, must
have been well acquainted with it, as appears from their names of men and places, which are
almost all Hebrew. It is much more probably attributable to the ignorance of the four Greek
authors, who evidently betray their ignorance in a variety of ways, and indeed confess it. But the
fact that they are, at the bottom, the same niythoses or histories cannot be doubted. Here, then,
we find the reason why the Jewish prophet, Isaiah xix. 18, says, that the true God should be
adored, or was l adored at five temples in the land of Egypt $ and here we find the reason of the
pictures of the Judsean mythos in Egypt in several of my groups of figures, and of the Judsean
names of towns, mountains, and districts, which I have before pointed out, and here we find the
meaning of the expression in the Apocalypse, the Lord crucified in Egypt. 2
But it is a very important observation which I have to make in addition to this, viz. that the
text (Isa. xix. 18) does not only say, as our Bible renders it, that one shall be called the city of
destruction ; but it also says, that oite shall be called the city of the EBS, firo^ 12W D"»nrr e-er$9 or
TH-JS StJN,3 or the Saviour*— according to the Arabic u*js> to &a/ue> Here we have proof of several
of my theories. Here we have the Xpy$9 the Chres, the Cfere's, the Epa$, the Eri, and Heri,
and Hari of Arabia, all identified with the Sun, and with the Preserve* and Destroyer. . And here
we have the Hebrew D"tfl ers, the origin of the Sanscrit, Eri or Heri, Saviour.
Of late I have never closely examined a text of the Bible which has not brought to my mind an.
assertion of the Tamuls, that their ancient sixteen-letter sacred book had five meanings. I am
quite certain that I shall be able to shew — to proVe*— • that every letter of the Hebrew had four, and
I think probably five, meanings. I request my reader to consider well the different meanings of
this word, DIPT erst as an example. I have lately begun to have some suspicion, that it was with
a reference to this mystery, that several of the Hebrew letters were what we call similars, but that
they were originally identicals. This will be .scouted, — poh-pohed down, by every Christian and
Jewish Hebraist with whom I am acquainted, for I do not know one who is not afraid of too much
being discovered. I never speak to any one of them upon these subjects, without finding all their
eloquence instantly in requisition, either to shew that I have made no discovery, or to shew that
it is quite out of the question that any should be made \ but never do I find them take the other
side, and endeavour to clear up doubts or remove difficulties.
To return to my subject : Although there are many things in which I cannot agree with the
learned Abbe Guerin de Rocher, I maintain that he has made out his case, that the history of
Genesis, from Noah to the captivity, is to be found substantially in the history of Egypt, which
he calls travestied, or, as he says, one taken from the other* Then here we have to all appear-
ance a history in the time of Hero-dotus, which is, in fact, no history at all $ for if it is merely a
copy or travesty of the history of the people of Syria, it cannot be a history of the people of Egypt
Here, "then, we have a most striking fact to support my doctrine, that we have really nothing of
the nature of a true history before the time of Herodotus. And here we have Herodotus searching
for history in Egypt, deceived by a mythos, the same as a mythos in Syria : and, if it were nOfc a
1 Here is a double reading i>ft» mu and »m fat, so it may be either, There shall be, or Ttogrii i&ve,fceen. See Pag-
";*w$.
* See Vol I;, p. 694, note 3, where? fofr Re?.! 8, 8, read Ben *L & * We fieasenius in me.
nznns.
16 ABRAHAM THUS.
mythos, what could induce the priests of Egypt to have given Herodotus a story in which Abra-
ham, Sarah, and the other persons, in the Syrian history, were actors, as Egyptian history ?
Why did they not give the history, or the greatest part of it, correctly, as we have it in Genesis,
instead of travestying it ? Of course, the Abb£ takes as much of the hifatories as is enough for
his purpose, omitting all the remainder; but we can have no difficulty in finding the remainder of
the mythos of North and South In,dia, in the death and resurrection of Orus and Osiris. The
Abb6 observes, l that the different histories are confused, but that certain of the kings are but
repetitions of Moses; that is, reincarnations of the Saviour. They are merely renewed incarna-
tions— of course as we have found them in India — all having a family likeness. 2
I have often suspected that our LXX is not the work which Ptolemy caused to be made from
the Hebrew or the Samaritan, but is a translation from the sacred books of the five temples of
Egypt referred to by Isaiah. Now if we suppose the sacred books of the Jews to refer, and to
have been admitted by them to refer, to an Eastern Ayoitdia, in their secret doctrines, they would
not permit this to be publicly known. Of course, when the writings became public, they would
be believed, generally, to refer to no other place or places than those in Western Syria; and
immediately all persons answering to the description of the Jews, of any of the temples scattered
about the world, would be believed to belong to the religion of Western Syria. I am now calcu-
lating upon these secret books being kept secret at all the other temples of Solumi. (At Tel-
messus, for example.) Of course, if they had sacred books containing this mythos, I suppose in
every case they would be accommodated to the respective localities, as we have found them in
India, near Cape Comorin, and as they were in Western Judaea, and as by and by we shall find the
Xpj£*-ian mythos was in vast numbers of places, all over the world.
The reason why I have suspected our LXX, is to be found in the excessively great variation
which may be perceived between it and the Hebrew — much too great, I think, to be accounted
for, by the unintentional corruptions of Origen, with his obelisks and asteriks. May not the sole
difference at last, between the Jews at the respective temples of Solomon and other Gentiles, be
found in the Jews being a sect of iconoclasts, and keeping to this dogma or doctrine, when it was
lost sight of by other nations ; in consequence of which 'their religion ran into all kinds of absur-
dities, from which that of these temples continued free ? I think this is worthy of consideration.
Since I wrote the above I have been told by a learned Jew, that my suspicion respecting the LXX
has been proved to be well founded, by an author of the name of De Rossi, who is noticed in
Louth'g Preface to his Translation of Isaiah.
5, The Abb6 de Rocher shews that several kings are copies of Abraham, several of Joseph,
several of Moses, &c., and that Joseph was the Proteus of the Egyptians and Greeks. He
observes that Joseph was called a saviour, and this, from the peculiarity of his story, would
be of no consequence ; but the Abbe artlessly observes, which is indeed of great consequence,
that St. Jer0m calls Joseph Redemptor Mundi — here evidently letting the secret of the mythos
escape him. The Abb6 was not aware of the consequence of shewing that Moses and Joseph
are repeatedly described, by different persons, particularly the latter, as a saviour. He had
no knowledge of the new incarnations. Both Moses and Joseph are appellative terms, made
into proper names, This raises a probability that the same history was told to the people every
600 years ; and if the art of writing were not known by them, it is not surprising that they should
have believed it.
1 P. 138.
* In Egypt there was a Cashmouric district, that is, District of Cashmere.— Spineto^ Lectures on Hieroglyphics,
p. 87.
BOOK I. CHAPTER III. SECTION 6. 17
Eut ychius says, l that the first city built by Noah was Thebes, which he called Thamanim.
This is strongly confirmatory of the theory of the Abbe* de Rocher, and of my system, that the
whole mythic history has been in Egypt ; but, as we might expect, accommodated to its local and
other circumstances.
1 beg my reader to look back into our own history for six hundred years, and consider what we
should know of it, if we had not possessed the art of writing.
There have been a hundred and seventeen different theories, to account for the difficulties in the
Egyptian history. 2
Speaking of the Egyptians, it is said by another learned Abbe, the Abbe Bazin, 3 that the words
I am that I am, were on the front of the temple of Isis at Sais, and that the name esteemed the
most sacred by the Egyptians was that which the Hebrews adopted, Y-HA-HO. He says, it is
variously pronounced: but Clement, of Alexandria, assures us, in his Stromatis, that all those
who entered into the temple of Serapis, were obliged to wear on their persons, in a conspicuous
situation, the name of I-ha~ho, or I-ha-hou, which signifies the God eternal. From this, I think,
we may fairly infer, that the Egyptians were of the same religion, in its fundamentals, as the Jews,
An attentive consideration of the passage of the book of Esther, where tbe Persian idolaters are
described as being put to death, will, I think, justify me in saying, that it affords grounds for the
opinion, that they were the same. The book of Esther appears to have been part of the chroni-
cles of the kings of Persia, adopted by the Jews into their canon, evidently to account for their
feast of Purim.
Herodotus was in Egypt about four hundred and fifty years before Christ, and Alexander con-
quered it about three hundred and fifty years before Christ, which was the time when the Greeks
first began to have any influence there. After their conquest of it nearly the same thing happened
to it which happened to Carthage, after it was conquered by the Romans. Its history was lost,
except the tradition that it had been previously conquered by the Persians : the reason of this
was, because there was no history, the art of writing history had not been invented. But there
was this difference between Carthage and Egypt, — the latter continued a nation, the former did
not. These circumstances account for the loss of the particulars of the Egyptian history, but not
for the loss of general great events, easily transniissive by memory.
My reader must recollect, that the example which I have given him of Thebes and Noah, con-
stitutes but a very small part of the rapprochements (as the Abb£ calls them) which, in fact, rela-
ting to Egypt alone, fill three volumes. It is selected as an example, not because it is the most
striking, but because it happens to be the first, and one of the shortest-
6. But the Abb& Guerin de Rocher is not content with shewing that the Egyptian only travestied
the Holy Scripture ; he goes much further. He says,4 " Je crois pouvoir, en effet, montrer assez
clairement, et par la signification des noms, et par les principaux traits des caract£res, et par la
fauite des faits, quoique souvent alt6r6s, que ces premiers personnages de 1'histoire sainte sont
devenus autant de rois ou de heros, dans les temps fabuleux de 1'histoire profane, et surtout dans
les poetes de la Greee, et de la vient que les hSros d'Homere, malgre les alterations du paganisme,
conservent encore une si grande simplicity."
Again, speaking of the comparison between the history of the Architect of Rhamsinites and the
tcfataiuent of Jacob, he says,5 " On ne me croiroit pas sans doute, vu le pen de resseuiblance, si je
1 See Vol I p. 755. « Guerin de Rocher, Vol. I, p. 167.
=» Translation from his MS. by Henry Wood Gandell, printed foi North, Paternoster Row, 1829, p 130.
* Vol II. p, 15. « Vol. II. p, 379.
VOL. II. D
18 GRECIAN HISTORY A TRAVESTY,
ne faisois un rapprochement assez sensible pour operer la conviction. Je ne fei'ois pas ce devoile-
raent, si je ne le regardois comme une preuve decisive, que les Egyptiens, pour composer leur
lustoire, out r^ellement traduit, el tres-mal traduit, les endroits de PEcriture qui out quelque
rapport & TEgypte : cela servira du moias a constater de plus en plus sa veritable antiquite ; ce
sera en m&me temps un example frappant de la maniere pitoyable dont 1'ignorance et Taveugle-
ment des paiens, et du peuple mime r6pute le plus sage parmi les paiens, ont alt6r& ce qu'il y
a de plus respectable et de plus sacr£, car c'est un des chapitres les plus interressants qui se
trouvent dans I'histoire sainte.
" Ce travestissement une fois constatfe, nous servira encore a en rendre d'autres moins incroj^
ables : car les niemes personnages dont ii s'agit dans ce chapitre, se trouvent aussi travestis dans
Thistoire fabuleuse de la Gr£ce, ou ils sont devenus les principaux h£ros de la guerre de Troie,
sous les mimes noms traduits en Grec, avec les ra^mes traits distinctifs de leurs caracteres, et le
mime fond des principaux faits, comme je le ferai voir dans la inythologie Greque, ou je montrerai
en mime temps quelle est la guerre de Thistoire sainte, entreprise pour une femme, qui est deve-
nue pour les Grecs la guerre de Troie: et quel est le morceau poetique de 1'Ecriture qui a servi
de germe a Tlliade d'Hornere, comme les Grecs eux-mimes Tout equivalemment reconnu avant
moi, sous des noms traduits dans leur langue."
Speaking of the Greeks he observes, that the meaning of the word No£ ni3 null in Hebrew is
quies and requies, (vide Gen. v. 29,) and that " Le nom de Deucalion se forme naturellement en
Grec du mot Aevxo$, suavitas, dulcedo, qui signifie douceur: comme le nom de Sigaliou, Dieu du
Silence, se forme de 2J/y?], siientium, que signifie silence, Aevxo$ Deucos a pu avoir ses d£riv£s
comme §jy*j a les siens— S^Ao^, SiyaXsos, &c. Voila done Deucalion qui, par son nom
mSme, se retrouve itre Noe/' x He shews that the story of the stones, by which Deucalion and
Pyrrha repeopled the earth, is only a mistake arising from the Hebrew word tz»>n bnim, filii,
having been confounded with the word £Z301K abnim, lapides.2 He then shews, that No6 is found
in a similar manner in the Nannacus of the Phrygians, who is said, by Suidas, to h^ve foreseen
the flood, and in consequence to have collected and saved his people in a sacred asylum. This
reminds me that one of the Sibyls placed Ararat in Phrygia : that is, placed a mount of il-avarata,
of God the Creator, in Phrygia, All this tends to shew the mythos to be universally spread over
the world, Nannacus foreseeing the flood, reminds me also that Enoch says, that No6 foresaw it
— learnt from the moons or planets, that the earth would become inclined, and that destruction
would take place. But this I shall discuss hereafter.
Again, Mons. Bonnaud says, " Mais si chaque trait de ses devoilem^ns aura de quoi surprendre,
que sera-ce, quand 1'auteur de Thistoire veritable entreprendra d'expliquer comment les Grecs
ayant imaging leurs temps hiroiques d'aprfcs nos livres saints, en ont empruntg ces noms illustres
par les deux plus grands, poetes qui aient jamais existe, les noms d'Ajax, d'En^e, de Diomede,
d'Agamemnon, de M6n£las > L'on verra que ces noins ne sont tons que les traductions de ceux
des enfans de Jacob, Ruben, Simeon, L£vi, Juda, Dan, Issacar, Zabulou, &c., que les Greca ont
rendus dans leur langue, tantdt avec une exactitude litirale, et tant6t avec des alterations gros-
si^res, ddcouverte assuriment tres-heureuse et si singuli^re, quelle parottra un paradoxe incroy-
able : dicouverte Kconde, elle nous rev&era un myst^re que jusqu'ici 1'esprit humain n'avoit pas
mime soup9onne. En effet, quelle sera la surprise de toutes les nations cultivttes par le goiit de
la belle literature, quand, par une suite de divoileniens des h^ros de la Grice, copies sur les noms
1 Vol.I.p J74.
2 Ib, p. 175. The Abl><< says, that Jameson, in his Spicelegia, has proved all the Egyptian proper names Hebrew.
BOOK I. CHAPTER III. SECTION 6. 19
des chefs des douze tribus d'Israel, M. 1'Abbg de Rocher fera voir que la guerre de Troie, cette
guerre, dont le fracas a retenti jubqu'au bout de Tunivers: cette guerre, dont la celebritfc propage'e
d'age en age, et perp£tuee de bouche en bouche depuis tant de siecles, a fait placer cet evenement
memorable au rang des grands epoques de Thistoire: cette guerre de Troie, chantee par un
Homere et un Virgile, n'est dans le fond que la guerre des onze tribus d'Israel, centre celle de
Benjamin, pour venger la femme d'un Le"vite, victime de 1'incontinence des habitans de la ville de
Gabaa ; l qui fut prise par les autres tribus confederees, a 1'aide d'une ruse de guerre, et qui fut
a la fin Iivr6e aux flammes par les vainqueurs."2
I confess I should have liked very much to see the Abb6 attempt the Grecian history, as he has
done that of Egypt. The striking marks of resemblance between parts of the Iliad, and of the
names in it, and the fabulous history of Greece, to names and to parts of the Sacred Writings,
has been observed thousands of times, and for this no reason has yet been assigned, having even
the slightest degree of probability — unless the doctrine of a common and universal mythos in
an universal language, as proposed to be proved in this work, be considered to possess such
probability.
I think it expedient here to add some observations from another learned Abbe respecting the
Grecian Bacchus. In Bacchus we evidently have Moses. Herodotus says he was an Egyptian,
brought up in Arabia Felix, The Orphic verses relate that he was preserved from the waters,
in a little box or chest, that he was called Misem in commemoration of this event ; that he was
instructed in all the secrets of the Gods ; and that he had a rod, which he changed into a serpent
at his pleasure ; that he passed through the Red Sea dry-shod, as Hercules subsequently did, in
his goblet, through the Straits of Abila and Calpe 5 and that when he went into India, he and his
army enjoyed the light of the Sun during the night : moreover, it is said, that he touched with his
magic rod the waters of the great rivers Orontes and Hydaspes 5 upon which those waters flowed
back and left him a free passage. It is even said that he arrested the course of the sun and moon.
He wrote his laws on two tables of stone. He was anciently represented with horns or rays on
his head.3
We see Bacchus, who in so many other particulars is the same as Moses, is called Misem, in
commemoration of his being saved from the water. Gessenius, in his explanation of the word
Moses, says it is formed of fw» water and u<raj$ delivered. 1 can find no Greek /£«> for water in
my Lexicons. But Misem may be the Saviour— yttf> iso9 the Saviour D m. And when I recollect
all that I have said in Vol. L pp. 5305 531, respecting the sacredness of water, and what Mr.
Payne Knight has said of the derivation of the word Ice, and that Bacchus was Isis and Omadios,
I cannot help suspecting that there is another mystery under this name, which I cannot fully
explain.
We have found the Mosaic mythos in China, in North India, and it was found in South India
by the Jesuits : then, according to the Abbe*, Genesis must have been travestied in all these places,
as well as in Egypt and Greece. This circumstance raises another insurmountable objection to
the Abb&'s theory, but it supports mine.
1 " II cst remarkable, en efet, qu* en Hebreu le mot Gabaa, qui veut dire un lieu eleve*, a le meme sens que Pergarna,
en Grec, qui est aussi le nom qu*on donne a Troie.**
* ** Mons. P Abbe* dit, que la guerre de Troie est prise de la guerre des Tribus, raeontfa & la fin, du Lwte des Juges*
Oe morceau de PEcriture est le dix-neuvieme et le vingtieme chapitre du Livre des Juges."
3 Abbe* Bazin, by Wood Gandell, p. 158* This ought to have come in another part of the work, but like many
other passages it was not copied till the other parts were printed*
D2
20 LANGUAGE OF EGYPT — DEISUL VOYAGE OF SALVATION.
My reader will probably recollect that I have formerly shewn that the Rev. Dr. Joshua Barnes
published a work to prove that Solomon was the author of the Iliad. l
The idle pretence that because the Egyptians had lost their own history they had recourse to
that of the Jews, is at once done away with by the Abba's observation respecting Thebes, and
that all the same history is to be found among the Greeks as among the Egyptians. I feel little
doubt that it was the discovery by the priests that this fact overthrew the Abba's theory, and led
to consequences of a very different nature, which prevented him from keeping his promise, to
shew, in a future work, that the Greek and Latin history was the same as the Egyptian, and not
the dispersion of his papers in the Revolution: but this I most exceedingly regret. His success
in the case of Deucalion andNannacus makes it probable that he could have performed his promise
if he had thought proper.
7. The learned writer, in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, whom I have several times before
quoted, says,2 "By the description above translated, (the passage of Clemens relating to hiero-
" glyphics,) it plainly appears that the sacred character of the Egyptians was entirely different
" from the hieroglyphic: and by this consideration we are in a good measure justified in sup-
" posing, as we have done all along, that the sacred letters of the Egyptians were actually the
" Chaldaic. The inscriptions on the obelisks, mentioned by Cassiodorus, so often quoted, were
" certainly engraved in the sacred character ; and the character in which they were drawn was
" that above-mentioned. If the sacred letters were Chaldaic, the sacred language was probably
<c the same."
It is a very remarkable circumstance that we should here find the old Hebrew or Chaldee
language, for they were both the same, to be the oldest used in Egypt. Did the Egyptians
change their language, out of compliment to those pastors or shepherds whom they permitted to
reside in a corner of their country, and at last expelled? The fact was, I have no doubt, that
the language was the ancient Coptic, which was Hebrew or Chaldee. I do not speak of the forms
of the letters used, because these were changed by caprice every day j nor, indeed, of the written
language 5 for it must have been a Masonic secret. I cannot doubt that 1000 years before the
captivity, the Chaldee, the Hebrew, the Syriac, and the Coptic, were all the same languages.
The case of the five dialects of the Celtic, namely, the Scotch, the Manks, the Irish, the Welsh,
and the Cornish, is exactly similar to that of the Egyptians named above. The natives of these
places do not now generally understand one another, but yet no one can doubt that they did all
understand one another a thousand or twelve hundred years ago, and that they are merely dialects
of the same Celtic language.
In the epithet cheres, borne by many of the kings, we have clearly the Xpywpw or #— prr
=600; TorX=300 <r-200 ?=100-600. In the later Ptolemies the Crestologia is shewn in
their names— Soter, Philadelphus, &c. X^s was but an epithet, mitis, benignus, applied to the
divine incarnation— to the person inspired by the Holy Ghost, and possessing the crown by divine
right.
8. I beg that my reader would now reconsider the circumstances, that we have found a repetition
of the same mythos of Moses, &c,, &c., in several countries; secondly, that the voyages of
salvation or processions about the country, or Deisuls, as they were called in Britain, are found
in most countries ; and, thirdly, that it appears probable, from the practice of the Roman Church
in scenically representing all the acts of the Saviour in the course of every year, that these pro-
1 See Vol L p, 364. * Art. Phil S, 73.
BOOK 1. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 3. 21
cessions or relations of the Mosaic history in the different countries, were originally nothino- m0re
than the scenical representation of the first mythos, which probably arose originally in Ayoudia,
and in process of time come to be believed by the people who performed them. This scenieal
representation arose before the knowledge of letters, and was invented in order to keep the
scheme from being lost; and I think it not at all unlikely, that the whole vulgar mythos of an
incarnated person was a parable, invented by the philosophers for the purpose of keeping their
refined and beautiful doctrines, and their cycles and astronomy, from being lost I can imagine
nothing so likely to answer this intended end, before letters were invented.
It seems probable that there was the same multiplication of the mythos in Egypt in the different
districts, which we have found in Greece and other countries ; and, that the reiteration of the
different Moseses, Josephs, Chereses, in dynasties, was nothing but the repetition of the different
incarnated Saviours for the same seeculum in different parts of the country. They have often
been thought to have been contemporaneous sovereigns, by different authors. This exactly suits
my theory. We know they had the voyages of salvation the same as in Greece. When Egypt
was divided into small states, each would have its Saviour, its voyage of Salvation, or Dei-sul,
or holy procession, its Olympus, Meru, &c., and its mythos of an immaculate conception, cru-
cifixion, resurrection, &c., &c. : but when it became united under one head, it would have, as we
read, one for the whole country, which annually made a procession the whole length of the Nile.
I now request my reader, before we proceed to any other subject, to reflect well upon what
we have found in the Abbe's work. Let him think upon the two cities of Thebes, or the ark
from which pigeons were sent out, and from which all animals and men descended, &c. Let
him remember Hercules three days in the Dag, and Jonas three days in the Fish. Let him
remember Samson's likeness to Hercules. Let him remember Iphigenia and Jephthah's daughter,
&c., &c., &c., and then let him account, if he can, for these things, in any other \vay than that
which I have pointed out.
CHAPTER IV.
LORD KINGSBOROUGH ON MEXICO.— MALCOLMS.— • MEXICAN MYTHOS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE OLD
WORLD. —HUMBOLDT AND SPINETO. — CHRONOLOGY AND CYCLIC PERIODS. — TOWERS OF MEXICO AND
BABEL, — JEWISH LANGUAGE AND MEXICAN RITES. — CROSS AND CRUCIFIXES. — IMMACULATE CONCEP-
TION. FEMALE PRINCIPLE. — HUMBOLDT. — BOCHICA, PERUVIAN RITES, &C. — THE ASS AND HORSE.
RACES OF MEN. — CHINA. TIBET. SPANISH POLICY. — LAWS OF THE MEXICANS, — EASTER ISLAND. —
LAST AVATAR EXPECTED.— TOD ON TIBET. ISLAND SUNK. JEWISH MYTHOS. — GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
1 . I MUST now draw my reader's attention to perhaps the most curious of all the subjects hitherto
discussed, and that is, the history of Mexico and Peru. It might be supposed that these, of all
nations, were the least likely to afford any useful information respecting the system or mythos
which I have been unveiling; but they are, in fact, rich in interesting circumstances, that have
22 MALCOtMB.
hitherto been totally inexplicable, but which are easily explained on the hypothesis, that there
was, in very early times, an universal empire governed by a learned priesthood.
Many months after the Anacalypsis had been in the press, Lord Kingsborough's magnificent
work on Mexico made its appearance. This will account for the manner in which I have spoken
of Mexican hieroglyphics in the first volume* My reader will readily believe me when I say it
was with great pleasure I discovered in every part of that work circumstances which can only be
accounted for on the theory laid down by me, and which therefore confirm it in a very remarkable
manner. His Lordship's difficulties are very striking : the language of the Jews, their mythos,
laws, customs, are every where apparent. This his Lordship accounts for by supposing that in
ancient times colonies of Jews went to America from Alexandria. But this by no means accounts
for the difficulty, because the Trinity, the Crucifixion, and other doctrines of Christianity, are in-
termixed with every part of the Jewish rites, which must be accounted for 5 therefore, to remove
this new difficulty, he is obliged to suppose that Christian missionaries, in the early times of the
gospel, found their way to America, Now admitting this to have taken place, its insufficiency to
account for the various incomprehensible circumstances, if not already, will very shortly be clearly
proved. The South Americans had not the knowledge of letters when the Spaniards arrived among
them, nor did they know the use of iron. These facts are of themselves almost enough to prove,
and really do prove, when combined with other circumstances, that the Jewish customs and doc-
trines could not have been carried to them from Alexandria, as above suggested, or by modern
Christians, who would have instantly set them to digging their mountains ; l but, on the contrary,
these facts prove that the colonization must have taken place previously to the discovery of iron
by the natives of the old world, long before Alexandria was built ; 2 and this agrees very well with
their ignorance of the use of an alphabet The two facts exhibit the mythos in existence at a
period extremely remote indeed. For, the identity of rites, such as circumcision, &c*, found in
India, Syria, Egypt, and South America, puts the great antiquity and identity of the mythoses out
of all doubt.
2. David Malcolme, in his book called Antiquities of Britain, (which is so ingeniously contrived
that it cannot be referred to by chapter, number, page, or in any other way,) gives the following
passage as an extract from Salmon's Modern History:3 " St. Austin, speaking of the notion some
" entertained of another continent, he says, * It is not agreeable to reason or good sense to affirm,
ee that men may pass over so great an ocean as the Atlantic from this continent to a new-found
" world, or that there are inhabitants there, all men being descended from the first man Adam.59 Now
this shews that, from the time of Christ to the fourth century, when this African bishop lived, but
then resided at Rome, there had been no colonization. It was impossible to have taken place
without his knowledge, and this absolutely proves the truth of the existence of the %p^sr-ian
mythos before the time of Christ.
The jealousy of the Pope and the court of Spain, in keeping all strangers away from South
America, even to the extreme length, for many years, of excluding their own bishops and secular
clergy, and permitting no priests but Dominicans and Franciscans to go thither, is accounted for.
The clear and unquestionable doctrines of Judaism and Christianity, which must have existed
before the time of Christ, evidently overthrew all their vulgar exoteric doctrines, whatever they
1 Mexico is one of the few places where native iron is found, (see Vallancey'a Coll. Hib. Vol. VL p. 422,) and it
lies in masses on the sides of their mountains in the greatest abundance.
* According to the Arundelian maibles, iron was not found out till 188 years before the war of Troy, Ibid,
3 Vol. 28th, but the first concerning America, Introd. Part 4th and 5th.
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 3. 23
might do with the esoteric or those iu the conclave. Lord Kingsborough says,1 "But one solu-
" tion offers itself from all the difficulties and mysteries which seem to be inseparable from the
" study of the ancient monuments, paintings, and mythology, of the Mexicans; and that is, the
" presence of the Jews in the new world." Had his Lordship said the Judaic mythos, he would
have been right ; for nothing can be more clear than that it is all substantially there, and most in-
timately mixed, actually amalgamated, he might have added, with the Christian.
3. The similarity between the Jews, Christians, and South Americans, is sufficiently striking!
but there is yet something to me still more so, which is, that several of the doctrines which 1 have
advocated in this work, unknown to the vulgar Jews and Christians of this day, are to be found in
Mexico. Their Triune God, their Creator, is called by the names Yao and Horn. Lord Kings-
borough says,2 " Hom-eyoca, which signifies the place in which exists the Creator of the uni-
« verse, or the First Cause, to whom they gave the name of Honi-eteuli, which means the God of
" three-fold dignity, or three Gods, the same as Ol-om-ris j and by another name,
" Hom-eican, that is to say, the place of the Holy Trinity, who, according to the opinion of many
" of their old men, begot, by their WORD, CIPATENAL, and a woman called X-UMIO."
In the Hom-eyo-ca, when joined with the other circumstances, I cannot but recognize the Om
and Ai — j*> oy om4a> place of Om. And again, in Hom~ei-can the Aom-iao-ania, the place ur
country of the Self-existent (ir ie] Horn, who is called the Trinity. And what are we to make of
the Horn, the Father of the WORD, by the Logos ?
The Father of the American Trinity is called Om-equeturiqui, ou bien Urago-Zoriso ,• le nom
du Fils est Urus-ana, et 1'Esprit se nomme Urupo.3 Here the Om of North India, the Urus or
Beeve, and the j0£-ruh, that is, the ruh, are very distinct. These have evidently not come from
modern Christianity, but from the ancient system in the most ancient of times. Teutle is re*
peatedly said to mean ®so$ or God. Sahagun says the Mexicans had a God, the same as Bac-
chus, called Ometeuchtli. Here is clearly Bacchus by his name of Ofta&o$,4 who was called THS
=608, which was the name of Jesus Christ, called the desire of all nations — the Om-mi-al of
Isaiah. Here, in the Teut, we have not only the 0*o£ of the Greeks, but we have the Teut-ates
of the British Druids, and the Thoth of Egypt, and the Buddha of India under his name Tat.
But it is expressly said, in several other places, that the God was called Yao. How can any one
doubt that here are the remains of an ancient system * How can any one believe that the Jews
would carry all these recondite matters to Mexico, even if they did go at any time, and that they
would amalgamate them all together as we have them here ?
The Mexican history gives a long account of their arrival in Mexico, from a distant country, far
to the West The stations where the colony rested, from time to time, during its long migration,
which took many years, are particularly described, and it is said that ruins of the towns which
they occupied are to be seen in several places along the coast* I think it is evident that this mi-
gration from the West is merely a mythos j the circumstances are such as to render it totally in-
credible. In principle it is the same as that of the Jews, but accommodated to the circumstances
of the new world.
It really seems impossible to read Lord Kingsborough's notes, in pp, 241 et seq*, and not to
see, that the mythos of a chosen people, and a God conducting them after long migrations to a
promised land, (attributed by the Spanish monks to the contrivance of the Devil,) was common to
Jews, Christians, and Mexicans. I think it seems clear, from p. 186, that Mexico or Mesi-co was
the Hebrew r?lPD msih; then it would be the country of the Messiah; or it might equally be the
P. 82. * Pp, 153, 156, 158: 3 Ibid, p. 410. 4 Ibid. Vol. VI. p. 19?.
24 MEXICAN MYTHOS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE OLD WORLD.
country of the leader, whom we call Moses, of the people whom we have found in Western Syria,
in South India, and Cashmere. His Lordship shews, that the word Mesitli or Mexico is " pre-
" cisely the same as the Hebrew word rWQ nmh or nttfB mse or anointed," and that one of these
Gods should sit on the right hand of the other, p. 82. In the next page he says, "the full ac-
" complishment of the prophecy of a saviour in the person of Quecalcoatle has been acknowledged
" by the Jews in America." He says, p. 100, "The temptation of Quecalcoatle, the fast of forty
" days ordained by the Mexican ritual, the cup with which he was presented to drink, the reed
" which was his sign, the morning star, which he is designated, the teepatt, or stone which was laid
" on his altar, and called teotecpatl, or divine stone, which was likewise an object of adoration ; all
" these circumstances, connected with many others relating to Quecalcoatle, which are here
" omitted, are very curious and mysterious !" But why are they omitted by his Lordship ? The
pious monks accounted for all these things by the agency of the Devil, and burned all the hiero-
glyphic books containing them, whenever it was in their power.
This migration of the Mexicans from the West,1 is evidently exactly similar to the Exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt, The going out with great noise and clamour is a part of the mythos.
Nimrod has shewn that it is to be found among the Greeks in their Bacchic festivals, and also
among the Romans: see his second volume, article Populi Fugia.2 The meaning of the mythos
I cannot even suspect, and the nonsense of Nimrod about Babel and the horrors of Gyneecocracy
give no assistance. But the fact of the similarity of the histories proves that it really is a part of
the mythos, that is, that a Regifugia and Populifugia is a part of the mythos.3
On the religion of the Hindoos the Cambridge Key says,4 " The pristine religion of the Hindus
was, I think, that of the most pure and ancient Catholic faith, and the religion of the enlightened
few still continues such. They have worshiped a saviour, as the Redeemer of the world, for more
that 4800 years. The religion of their forefathers they brought with them from the old world and
established it in the new one. They believe implicitly in a Redeemer, whom they consider as the
spirit that moved on the waters at the creation, the God that existed before all worlds." We
shall find this the Mexican faith.
The God who led the Mexicans in their migration, was called Yao-teotle, God of Armies— Yao
being said to mean army or victory- — the very meaning given to it by the Jews ; and, Sanscrit
fccholars tell me, also by the Indians.5 Teo is said to be ®so or Deo, and tie a mere termination ;
but, as I have stated in Vol. L p, 221, the TTL is T=300, T=300, L^50; and TT is, in fact, the
Tat or Buddha of India. Teotle is the same as rbn tlt> and means 650, which, as emblem of the
Trinitarian God, came to mean three,, I believe also that this has a connexion, in some way, with
the "6n tld9 probably originally nbn tit or *7*6in tulad, the male organ of generation. I believe
that from this comes our word Lad. Teotl is the Supreme and Invisible Being. s The Tat is the
name of the Tartars, who are as often called Tatars, and I am persuaded that the famous Titans
were properly Tat-aus. Many reasons for these matteis will be added hereafter.
Gen, Vallancey says, the earliest Irish history begins with -Kartuelta,7 which is the same as the
Indo-Scythian Cear-tiutli, that is, Kaesar or Caesar, grandson of Noah, on the banks of the Cas-
i Vide Lord Kingbbonrogh, Vol VI. p. 237. a P 370.
3 I much fear I shall greatly offend the \ery learned person who calls himself Nimrod, of whose honour and sincerity
I have no doubt; hut I am quite certain, if he would consult a friend or two, he \\ould find that he gives way to super-
stition in a manner very unwoithy of so fine a scholar and so learned a man. His work is called Nimrod, in four
volumes, 8vo , and is sold by Priestley, London.
* Vol. II. p. 72- fi P. 244. « Miss Williams' Humboldt, p. 83. 7 Coll. Hib. Vol. VI. p. 21.
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 5. 25
pian, 300 years after the flood. Here I suspect that we have the Caesar of Indo-Scythia, or of the
Caspian, joined to the Mexican Tiutli or Teotli.1
4. In p. 236, Mr, Humboldt treats of a nation called Xochimileks. This must be Xaca-melech,
or, I should rather say, (considering all the other circumstances which we have seen relating to
the Rajahpoutans and Royal Shepherds,) Royal Saxons, for I much suspect they were all the
same people. The Marquess Spineto, in his Lectures,2 has quoted a person called Carli as
having deeply studied the origin of nations and languages, and who, he says, has asserted that the
Egyptians peopled America. He particularly notices a word as being held sacred among the
Egyptians and in the Pacific ocean, — it is Tabou. But this is nothing but Bou-ta read anagram-
matically, or, in fact, in the old Hebrew fashion. The High Priesat of the North American Indians
was called Sachem. I think we have here both the Saga and the Akme,3 and also the Sciakam,
which we have before noticed in Tibet. The dignity of sacrificer was supreme and hereditary,
like a feudal title. His title was Papa, his dress scarlet, with fringes as a border.4 This exactly
answers to the Sagart and Rex Sacrificulus of the ancients. The fringes of the Mexicans were
fixed to the four quarters of their garments, as a sacred ordinance, precisely like those of the
Jews ;5 and it is only fair to suppose, as they were similar in one respect they should be so in
another, and have been descriptive of the number 600.
5. Boturini says, tc No Pagan nation refers primitive events to fixed dates like the Indians,'*
meaning the Americans. *c They recount to us the history of the creation of the world, of the
<e deluge, of the confusion of tongues at the time of the tower of Babel, of the other epochs and
" ages of the world, of their ancestors' long travels in Asia, with the years precisely distinguished
" by their corresponding characters. They record, in the year of Seven Rabbits, the great eclipse
" which happened at the crucifixion of Christ our Lord ; and the first Indians who were converted
" to Christianity, who, at that time, were perfectly well acquainted with their own chronology,
" and applied themselves with the utmost diligence to ours, have transmitted to us the informa-
" tion, that from the creation of the world to the happy nativity of Christ, five thousand, one
" hundred and ninety-nine years had elapsed, which is the opinion or computation of the
"LXX."6
One of their periods is 4008 years B. C.,7 another 4801. 8 Their fourth age, the editor says,
according to the Mexican symbols, lasted 5206 years, and the early Christian converts made it
out 5199 years.9 This was evidently the computation of 5200 years of Eusebius. The period of
4801 is the sum of the eight ages of the correct Neros, 8x600=4800, The Mexicans are said to
be great astrologers.
The Mexicans believed that the millenium would commence at the end of some cycle of 52
years — 4x13—52; and they concluded each of these periods with deep lamentations and terrors,
and hailed with corresponding joy the moment when the new cycle had commenced, which shewed
that they had a new 52 years' lease. This was exactly the case with the lamentations for the
death of Osiris, Adonis, &c., and his resurrection from the tomb. The new cycle having com-
menced, the danger had past. At first, I doubt not, this was only every 600 years $ afterward,
with the increasing uncertainty of the ends of those periods, and also with the increase of super-
stition, the festivals of Osiris, &c,, came, for the sake of security, to be celebrated every year.
Lord Eingsborough says, w " Christians might have feared the return of every period of fifty-
1 See Basnage, for a kingdom of the Jews in the East called Cotar, Caesar, B. vii. ch. L, and B* viii.
* Pp. W9, 200. 3 Pownal on Ant. p. J90. * Lord Kmgsborough's Mex Vol. VI. p. 69.
* Ib. p, 77. c Ib. p. I?6. i Ib. p. 174, 8 Ib. p, 175. £> Jb. p 176. l° Ib. p. 5, note,
VOL. II,
26 CHRONOLOGY AND CYCLIC PERIODS.
" two years as being neatly the anniversary of the age which Christ had attained when he was cru-
" cified, and of the great eclipse which sacred history records, and which (since profane history is
" silent respecting it) it is very remarkable how the Mexicans should have become acquainted with/'
The first pair were called Huehue.1 Quecalcoatle disappeared at the end of fifty-two years, at
the great festival in Cholula.2 Here is the Aphanasia.
Mr. Humboldt gives nearly the same account. He says, "At the end of the fifty-two years
" they had a grand festival, when all lights were extinguished, and after crucifying a man, they
** kindled a fire by the friction of the wood of the Ivy on his breast, from which they were all re-
" lighted. It was their belief that the world would be destroyed at the end of one of these
" cycles, and as soon as this fire was kindled and the critical moment past, which assured them
" that a new cycle was to run, they indulged in the greatest joy.'5 He shews that they new-
cleaned and furnished all their houses and temples, precisely as was done by the ancient Egyp-
tians, and, he might have added, as is also done by the Romish church at every jubilee.3 He
shews that the Mexicans had convents of Monks precisely like the Tibetians and the Romish
church. After this, Humboldt states, that M. La Place, from a careful examination, had come to
the conclusion, that the Mexicans knew the length of the Tropical Year more correctly than
Hipparchus, and almost as correctly as Almamon;4 and he shews, from various astronomical
circumstances, that they must have had a close connexion with Eastern Asia and its cycles.
Humboldt says, " This predilection for periodical series, and the existence of a cycle of sixty
** years, appear to reveal the Tartarian origin of the nations of the new continent."5 He then
states, that the cycle of sixty years was divided into four parts. " These small cycles represented
u the four seasons of the great year. Each of them contained 185 moons, which corresponded
" with fifteen Chinese and Tibetian years, and consequently with the real indictions observed in the
"time of Constantine,"6 Here we see the identity accounted for of the chronological periods
stated above by Lord Kingsborough, with those of the old world, as corrected by the two Caesars
with the assistance of the Chaldoeans of the East. On this I shall have something very curious in
a future book.
Mr. Niebuhr says, " What we call Roman numerals are Etruscan, and frequently seen on their
" monuments. But these signs are of the hieroglyphic kind, and belong to an earlier mode of
" symbolical writing, in use before the introduction of alphabetical characters. r They resemble
a the Aztekan in this, that they represent objects individually. They were of native origin, at the
"time when the West, with all its primitive peculiarities, was utterly unknown to the East,8
" at the same period when the Turdetani framed their written characters and literature/'0
*c Here also a phenomenon presents itself, which fills us moderns with astonishment, viz. an ex-
" ceedingly accurate measurement of time, and even in the cyclical year, quite, quite in the spirit
" in which the early Mexican legislators conducted the chronology; portions of time measured off
" from periods of very long duration, determined with astronottiical precision, and without regard
" to the lunar changes. Besides these, the Etruscans had a civil lunar year, which the cyclical
" only served to correct But there is something remarkable, and not to be lightly disre-
i Lord Kingsborough's Mex. Vol. VL p. 198, a Ib p. 199.
3 Humboldt Res Cone Mexico, Ed Miss Williams, Vol. I. pp. 226, 380, 382, 384. 4 Ibid p. 392.
- Ib. Vol. II. p. 128. 6 Ib.p, 133.
7 How extraordinary that this author should stop here and not make the least attempt to ascertain what this symbo-
lical writing was ! It will be my object, in a future book, to supply the -deficiency ; but I beg my reader to recollect
the admission of this learned man.
8 What a mistake ! 0 Strabo, III. Oap. ii. p. 371, Ed. Sylb.
BOOK I, CHAPTER VI. SECTION 7 '• 27
" gardcd, in the affinity between the wisdom of the ancient West and the science, at one time
" perhaps more widely diffused over that hemisphere, and of which the Mexicans still preserved the
" hereditary, though probably useless possession^ at the time wlien their country was destroyed.
" This deserves more attentive consideration, since the discovery of an analogy between the
" Basque and American languages, by a celebrated scholar, Professor Vater."1 In these observa-
tions we surely have a very extraordinary confirmation of my theory. If the Romans calculated by
a period or saeculum of 120 years, they would come to the same conclusions as if they took the 60
or 600, and in this we see why the Mexican and Roman periods agreed in the time of Constantine
and Eusebius. They would not have agreed before the time when the solstice was corrected by
Sosigenes the CHALDEAN. They would have varied more than 500 years. This we shall refer to
in a future book, when it will be understood, and something exceedingly striking will be
unfolded.
Humboldt says, the Mexicans hold that, before the flood, which took place 4800 years after
the creation2 of the world, the earth was inhabited by giants. One of them after the flood, called
Xelhua or the architect, built an immense pyramidal tower which was to reach to heaven — but
the Gods offended destroyed it with lightning. Here is a complete jumble of the ancient mytho-
logy : the 4800 are the eight cycles before Christ. The architect is the Megalistor or the name
of God made into the giant, and is X-al-hua, the self-existent X. The tower is the exact model
of the tower of Babel, as given in our old histories. After its destruction it was dedicated to
Quetzalcoatl, the God of the Air. This is Saca, or Indra, whom we found crucified in Nepaul.
(See Vol. I. p. 230.) 3 The Mexicans chaunted the word Hululaez, which belonged to no Mexican
dialect, to the honour of their Gods.4 This is evidently the Allelujah of the Greeks and Hebrews,
and the Ullaloo of the Irish. 5
6. It is said that after the deluge sacrificing commenced. The person who answers to Noah
entered an Ark with six others, and that soon after the deluge his descendants built the tower of
Tulan Cholnla, partly to see what was going on in heaven, and partly for fear of another deluge,
but it was destroyed by thunder and lightning. The story of sending birds out of the ark, the
confusion and dispersion of tribes, is the same in general character with that of the Bible. His
Lordship says, " In attempting to explain how the Indians could have become acquainted with
" events of such remote antiquity, coeval with the foundation of the earliest monarchies, it would
" be absurd to suppose that their annals and native traditions extended backwards to a period
" unknown to Egyptian, Persian, Greek, or Sanscrit history."6 Absurd as it may be to suppose
this, their hieroglyphic annals evidently do thus extend backwards.
His Lordship says, 7 " The difficulty of comprehending the plan of the tower of Belus, given
" by Herodotus, vanishes on inspecting the plans of the Mexican temples. The turrets in the
" great temple, described in p. 380, were 360 in number." Up to the temple Cholula were
dento y veinte gt*ada$. The brick base of the tower of Chululan, which remains, and was built
1 Niebuhr, Hist. Rome, Vol. I p. 92, Ed. Walter.
* I think when my reader lias seen a few of the following" pages he will be convinced that there must here be a
mistake of the translator, and that the words after the creation of the world ought to be before the Christian &ra* Hie
space, 4800 is about the time of the eight cycles from the entrance of the Sun into Taurus, and when (as I shall shew
in a future book) a flood probably took place.
3 Williams, Vol. I. p. 96 * Ibid
* I have no doubt that the Ullaloo of the Irish, with which they wake their dead friends, was originally an invocation
to the Deity to be merciful to their souls*
5 Vol. VI. p. 117. 7 Ib. p. 279.
28 TOWERS OP MEXICO AND BABEL.
in order to escape another flood if it should come, is eighteen hundred feet in circumference. It
as said to have been destroyed by a stone from heaven.1 It is pyramidal. Humbolt says it is
hollow.2 I have little doubt that the word Choi has been XL=650— a monogram, which it may
be remembered is found in the oldest catacombs at Rome.
Teocalli is the name of the temple of Cholula ; this is said to be the house of Teocalli. This
is evidently tea or God Call. House of God is precisely the Hebrew style.
The word Cholula is thought by Lord Kingsborough to be a corruption of the word Jeru-salem.
He thinks the same of a place called Churula;3 but I suspect that they were identical. At
Cholula is the very large temple, with the very celebrated pyramid, which is said to be a very
close imitation of the temple of Belus or tower of Babel. 4 A room in one of the pyramids of
Cholula had its ceiling formed like the temple at Komilmar, of over-hanging stones. 5
In Volume XXL 6 of the Classical Journal will be found some interesting remarks of Mr.
Faber's on the close similarity between the pyramid on the mountain Cholula of the Mexicans, and
the tower of Belus. That one is a copy of the other, or that they are both taken from some
common mythos, cannot possibly be doubted. This being premised, I would ask my reader
whether he can doubt a moment, that the well-known deity Omorca of the Chaldaeans7 is the
Hom-eyo-ca of the Mexicans ? Thus we have not only the mythos of the Greeks in Bacchus,
of Christianity, of Judaism, of Tartary, and of North and South India in Mexico, but we have
the very oldest mythos of Babylon. How came this mythos of Babylon in Mexico ? Did it go
by China ? I think my reader, when he considers all these circumstances, must see that my
theory of one universal empire and mythos will explain all the difficulties, and that it alone can
explain them,
Mr. Humboldt, after shewing that the tower at Cholula was in every respect a dose imitation of
that described by Diodorus and Herodotus at Babylon, both in its form and in the astronomical
uses to which it was applied, states, as if it was not doubted, but a settled fact, that it was built
after the time of Mohamed.8 At this time the tower of Belus had for many centuries been in
ruins, and its country a perfect desert. This at once shews that no dependence can be placed in
Mr, Humboldt' s speculation on this subject,— for surely no one will credit the recent date of this
work, supposing even that it were built by emigrants from Egypt or from Chinese Tartary. In
that age, after the time of Mohamed, what should induce either Jews or Christians to expend an
immense sum in money or labour to build a tower of Babel, in Mexico or any where else ? After
the description of the Mexican pyramidal towers, Mr, Humboldt goes on to state, that there
are similar pyramidal towers in Virginia and Canada, containing galleries lined with stone. He
states the temple of Xochicalco accurately to face the four cardinal points, 10 to be built of stone
beautifully wrought, but without cement— each stone in form of a parallelepiped.
The Mexicans* large temple, placed on a conical hill, called Xochicalco, meant, as they say,
house ofjftowers. This is Xaca and Calx, Calyx, which meant Rose. u The hill was excavated
into large caves,12 wonderful to behold, when it is considered (as it is there observed), that the
Mexicans had no iron. An observation is made by M. Dupaix, that the Mexicans are now quite
ignorant of the meaning of their proper names.13 In p. 71 3 *t appears that the temple at Mexico
I Vol. VI. p. 196. * Ib. p. 174, This Tower is in Plate XVJ. See ib. p. 192.
3 P. 34. * Vide Class, Journal, Vol. XXI. p. 10. * Williams's Humboldt, p. 91.
« Pp. 10, 11. 7 Named in Class. Jour. Vol. XX. p 186. 8 Ib. p 100.
9 Ib. 102. 10 ib, p. IIO>
II Lord Kingsborough's Mex. Ant. p. 430. « Ib. p. 431. l3 Jb. p, 432
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 7» 29
is, in substance and fact, called the temple of Cihnathe, C being pronounced like S, and thus
making the temple of Sin or Sion, which will be explained in the book on letters. Lord Kings-
borough calls it Sinai or Sina.
I feel little doubt that one of the first names of God, in the first written language, for reasons
which I shall give when I explain the Origin of Letters, in all nations, languages, and times,
would be n di, divus, with its variety of forms : the next, perhaps, would be descriptive of 360.
This might be described in various ways, as TLI— T=300 Ln50 I— 10— 360. The meaning of
these three numbers would be the glorious orb we daily behold, the Sun and God. For reasons
which I shall assign, I suppose Di was the first and the prevailing name of God during many
generations. Afterward, when astronomy so much improved that the knowledge of the Neros of
650 was acquired, the name TTL=650 was adopted as his name, and we have it in Mexico, (where
fgures were known, but not syllabic letters^} in the name of the Deity Teotk. The periods shew
how far, at the time in which they branched off from Asia, the knowledge of the system had
extended. Their period from the creation to Christ, of 5200 years, embraces the eight ages of
their cycle : their TTL, TKOTLE=650 X 8=5200, corresponding with the period of Eusebius. In
India, the name 360 fell into disuse and was lost, and was probably superseded by the words
Titlu~666, TTL=650+IU or t 11-16—666, and, at last, by the number now used, TT-600. I
know not how I could have invented any thing more in accordance with my theory than that this
Mexican God should have this peculiar, appropriate name, had I set my wits to work for the
purpose of invention. " Teotl signifies, in the Mexican language, both the Sun and an Age 3 and
" the image of the sun, surrounded with rays, was the symbol of the latter." 1
Mr. Fred. Schlegel has observed,2 that the word atl or atel is found in the languages of the
East of Europe ; that it means water, and that its symbol has found its way into the Greek
alphabet in the letter Mem, in the undulating shape by which water is meant — M ; that it is also
in the Phoenician and most western nations. It is in the Estoteland of Greenland, which is, I
suspect, di-ania-estotel ; and I also suspect that it is the symbol of the centre letter and of water,
because it is the symbol of fluid of any kind. I think this leads to the meaning of our word
Land, L'-ania-di — the holy country.
7 Almost all persons who have written respecting the Mexicans, have observed the similarity
of their language to that of the Hebrews. This and many other strange things the monks admit
most unwillingly, and attribute to the devil. Las Casas said that the language of Saint Domingo
was u corrupt Hebrew/'3 The Caribbees have the word Neketali, meaning dead; in Hebrew
5?®p qtl: Hilaali, he is dead; in Hebrew ^n hit: Kaniche, a cane ; (sugar j) in Hebrew rnp qne :
JEneka, a cottar; in Hebrew pjy onk.*
Las Casas wrote an account of the Mexicans, in which (we are told) he states his belief that
they are descended from the Jews,5 This account, by his desire, was never published. But why
should he object to its being known that the Mexicans descended from the Jews ? The reason is
very evident : it was because he saw it was ridiculous, and he did not believe it himself* This
book is in the Academy of History at Madrid. It was examined a few years ago by the Govern-
ment, but it was not thought proper to publish it. 6
Lord Kingsborough gives the following passage: 7 "Las Casas' persuasion that the Indians were
" descended from the Jews is elsewhere mentioned : but as the words, * Loquela tua manifestum
» Mex. Ant, Vol. VI. p. 157. * Notes on Miss Williams's Humboldt, Vol. II. p. 222,
» Mex. Ant Vol. VI. p. 283. 4 Anc Univ. Hist. Vol XX. p. 161.
* Mex. Ant Vol. VI. p 7. 6 Ibid. 7 Ib. p. 7, note.
30 CROSS AND CRUCIFIXES.
" te facit, were discovered, with some other reasons tending toxvards the same conclusion, by
" Torquemada, in some private papers containing the will of Las Casas, at the same time that
" great weight must be attached to so solemnly recorded an opinion, it cannot be said that that
" learned prelate was guilty of any indiscretion in promulgating it : but the contrary is proved, by
" the proviso which he made respecting the publication of his history,— that it should not be
" printed till fifty years after his death, and then only if it appeared good to the superior of his
" order, and for the benefit of religion $ but that in the intermediate time no layman or young
" ecclesiastic was to be permitted to read it. The work has never been published : and Don
" Martin Fernandez de Navarrete says, that when it was referred some years ago to the Academy
" of History at Madrid, to take their decision respecting its publication, they did riot think it
" convenient." I now learn that permission has been given to Lord Kingsborough to copy it.
The secreting practice is found to answer no longer. The old proverb applies, " Omne ignotum
" pro magnifico est." I shall be surprised if any thing important be found in it, as much as I
should have been to have heard, that the French found many diamonds at Loretto when they got
there, or secret learning in the Vatican Library when they got to Rome.
David Malcolme, in his Essay on Ant, of Brit., says, " Take it in the sense of Wytfleet, thus,
u p. m. 12, which in substance amounts to this, &c., when the Spaniards were in the magna
" insula Indice Hayti : When the bell rung for evening prayers, the Spaniards, according to
f" custom, bowed their knees, and signed themselves with the cross. The Indians did imitate
" them with great reverence, falling down on their knees, and joining their hands together, (rather,
" as I think, for imitation than for any other reason,) though there are several who think, that
" the Indians had the cross in veneration long before the arrival of Columbus. Gomara, Book iii.
" Chap* xxxii. tells, That St, Andrew's Cross* which is the same with that of Burgundy, was in
«< very great veneration among the Cumans, and that they fortified themselves with the crosb
" against the incursions of evil spirits, and were in use to put them upon new-born infants $ which
u thing very justly deserves admiration. Neither can it be conceived how such a rite should
" prevail among savages, unless they have learned this adoration of the cross from mariners or
" strangers, who, being carried thither by the violence of tempests, have died or been buried there,
" vthich without all doubt would have also happened to that Andalusian pilot who died in the
" house of Columbus, unless he had been very skilful in sea affairs, arid feo had observed his
" course, when he was hurried away with the force of the storms : it is very credible that many
" of those who are generally reckoned to have been foundered at sea, did really meet with accidents*
" of this kind. But the Accusamilenses bring another reason of adoring the cross, and which
" &eems nearer truth, to wit, That they had received by tradition from their forefathers, that
" formerly a man more glorious than the sun had passed through these countries and suffered on
" a cross/' Here we have the mythos clear enough in Hispaniola.
The Rev. Dr. Hyde, speaking of the prie&ts of Peru, takes occasion to say, ** Nam populi
*6 simplicitas et sacerdotum astutia omni sevo omnique regions semper notabilis." * No wonder
the University of Oxford refused to print any more of his manuscripts. He was speaking of a
virgin of Peru, who was pregnant by the sun. The Reverend Doctors of Oxford did right not
to publish his works while he lived, and to destroy his manuscripts when he died.2 He ought to
have been burnt himself — Omnique regions, indeed ! ! !
Acosta says, that the Americans adored the sea, under the name Mammacocha. I believe this
was the Marine Venus Mamma 3KD1D cochab* 3
Cap, iv. p 123 * Vide Toland's Nazarenus, Chap, iv., and Bibliog. Bnt. 3 Lord Herbert, p. 149.
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 9. 31
The Mexicans baptized their children, and the water which they used they called the water of
regeneration. l
The Mexican king danced before the God, and was consecrated and anointed by the high priest
with holy unction. On one day of the year all the fires were put out, and lighted again from one
sacred fire in the temple ;a — the practice of the Druids, Lord Kingsborough 3 shews, that the
Messiah of the Jews is foretold to have an ugly or a marred countenance, and that the Mexican
Quecalcoatle is said to have had the same. At the end of October they had a festival exactly
answering to our All Saints and All Souls.* They call it the festival of advocates, because each
human being had an advocate to plead for him. Thus we have this festival throughout modern
Europe, in Tibet, and in the ancient festival of the Druids' Saman in Ireland, and in Mexico.
There is the story of the rebellious angels and the war in heaven. 5 This is not from our Pen-
tateuch.
9. The Peruvians had a festival called the festival of Capacreyme, in the first month of their
year, called Rayme. a Acosta supposes this was contrived ly the Devil in imitation of the Passover.
It may be observed, that all the acts of worship are directed avowedly to the Sun. The
Mexicans sacrificed human victims, which Lord Kingsborough 7 has shewn was practised by the*
Jews, who were, according to his Lordship's account, horrible cannibals.
Georgius shews that the God Xaca was constantly called Cio; — this was the Xiuh-tecutli or
God of Fire, or God of Years, or the Everlasting One, of the Mexicans.8 Volney0 says, the
Teleuteans are a Tartar nation.
Buddha was Hermes, and Hermes was Mercury, and Mercury was the God of Merchants, and
Buddha was Xaca, and Saca and the Mexican God of Merchants was Yaca-tecutli.
In the history of the Aztecks of Mexico, we find much respecting one Coxcox saved on a raft,
in a great flood, Now when I consider that the Mexicans are so closely connected with North
India, and that their accounts are all preserved by a mixture of hieroglyphics and unwritten
tradition, I cannot help suspecting that this Coxcox ought to be Sasax or Saxas,
Nagualism is a doctrine known in America, (Naga is are nhs9 softened or corrupted, and the
Hag of England,) where the serpent is called Culebra ; this is Colubra ; and the followers of it
are called Chivim ; these are the Evites, or Hivites, or Ophites, Eve is K>irr hvia or KVH Aiwa.10
The Mexicans had a forty-days' fast in memory of one of their sacred persons who was tempted
forty days on a mountain. He drinks through a reed. He is called the Morning Star, &c,, &c.
This must be the same person noticed before (p, 24) to have had a reed for an emblem. As
Lord Kingsborough says, " These are things which are very curious and mysterious." u
The inhabitants of Florida chaunt the word Hosanna in their religious service, and their priests
were named Jouanas* 12
Sina is the ancient name of China. I suspect Sina, and Sian or Siam, are the same word. The
God of Hayti was called Jocanna, the c is evidently instead of the aspirate in Johanna, 13
One of the temples has the name of Qihnateocalli — that is, I suppose, temple of Cali, the God
of Sina or Sian.14
Lord Kingsborough says, 15the Mexicans honour the cross. "They knew them (the Chiribians,
1 Mcx,Ant, Vol. VI. p. 114. * Ib. p. 144. 3 Ib. p. 167, note. * Ib p. 101.
* Ib, p. 401. 6 Ib, p. 305, 7 Ib. p. 328. 8 Ib. p. 392,
» Ruins, Notes, p. 198, and Asiat, Res. Vol. III. p. 358. * See Vol. I. p. 523,
" Mex. Ant, Vol VI. p. 100. IS Ib. p. 71. '3 Ib. p. 98. l* Ib. p, 71. " H>. p, 4,
32 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION— FBMAJLE PILGRIMAGE.
" or Chiribichenses, which name differs from that of Chibirias, the mother of Bacab,) honour the
" cross.9'
The Incas had a cross of very fine marble, or beautiful jasper, highly polished, of one piece,
three-fourths of an ell in length, and three fingers in width and thickness. It was kept in a
sacred chamber of a palace, and held in great veneration. The Spaniards enriched this cross
with gold and jewels, and placed it in the cathedral of Cusco. l Mexican temples are in the form
of a cross, and face the four cardinal points.
Quecalcoatle is represented in the paintings of the Codex Borgianus nailed to the cross.2
Sometimes even the two thieves are there crucified with him. 3
In Vol. II. plate 75, the God is crucified in the Heavens, in a circle of nineteen figures, the
number of the Metonic cycle. A serpent is depriving him of the organs of generation. In the
Codex Borgianus, (pp. 4, 72? 73, 75,) the Mexican God is represented crucified and nailed to
the cross, and in another place hanging to it, with a cross in his hands. And in one instance,
where the figure is not merely outlined, the cross is red, the clothes are coloured, and the face
and hands quite black. If this was the Christianity of the German Nestorius, how came he to
teach that the crucified Saviour was black ? The name of the God who was crucified was Queca-
al-coatle. I suspect this was Saca, or Xaca, or Kaca— the Coatle (or God).4 The mother of
Quecalcoatle is called Sochi-quetzal ; may this be mother of Xaca 1 5 Sochi, or Suchi-quecal is
both male an& female. 6
In pp. 71j 73, of the Codex Borgianus, the burial, descent into hell, and the resurrection, are
represented. 7
In one of the plates the God is crucified on a mountain. I suspect that this is Prometheus.
10. The Immaculate Conception is described. 8 This is also described in Torquemada's Indian
Monarchy. The Mexican word Dios meant God, and he was called ineffable. 9
The Immaculate Conception is described in the Codex Vaticanus. 10 The Virgin Chimalman,
also called Sochiquetzal or Suchiquecal, n was the mother of Quecalcoatle. Sochiquetzal means
the lifting up of Eases.
Eve is called Ysnextli, and it is said she sinned by plucking roses. But in another place these
roses are called Fmta del Arbor. 12 The Mexicans called the Father Yzona, the Son Bacab, and
the Holy Ghost Echvah, This, they say, they received from their ancestors, 13 The Lakchmi
of India is called CkrL (Lakchmi is I/Achm; Chri is Xg>j£.) These are the same as the
Mexican Centeotl, i. e. Cm-teotl 3 14 and Centeotl, is Can or Cun-teotl,— • the Cunti, the name of
the female generative principle in India.
The Mexican Eve is called Suchiquecal, A messenger from heaven announced to her that she
should bear a son, who should bruise the serpent's head. He presents her with a rose. This
was the commencement of an Age, which was called the Age of Roses. In India this is called
the Age of the Lotus, the water rose. Upon this it may be observed, that if this had been a
1 Vega, Book ii, Chap. iii. * Mex. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 166. 3 Ibid. * Ib. p. 1?3.
* Ib. p. 175. 6 Ib. p. 176. » Ib. VI. p. 166. 8 Ib. p. 65.
9 Ib. p. 68. »° Ib. pp. I?5, 176.
'i This is really our Sukey, and the Gieek tf/y^. It comes from the language of the Tartars, Tatars, the Sacse or
Saxons, the language of Tanga-tanga or Tangut.
« Mex. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 120. »3 Ib. p. 165. u Humboldt, Ed, Miss Williams, Vol. L p 221,
N. B. This uas the last sheet revised by the Author— a short time before he died.
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 11. 33
Papist forgery, the woman and not the seed of the woman would have bruised the head. It may
also be observed, that if this had come from the Western part of the old world, since the time
of Constantine, it would certainly have had the woman and not the seed of the woman. All
this history the Monkish writer is perfectly certain is the invention of the Devil. l Torque-
mada's Indian History was mutilated at Madrid before it was published. 2 Suchiquecal is called
the Queen of Heaven. She conceived a son, without connexion with man, who is the God of Air.
This is the immaculate conception, and the God Indra, whom we found crucified and raised from
the dead in Nepaul. The Mohamedans have a tradition that Christ was conceived by the smelling
of a rose. 3 The temples of Quetzalcoatle were round. He was the inventor of temples in this
form.
In the thirty-sixth chapter of Marco Paulo, an account is given of the sacrifice, in the province
of Tanguth, a little North of Nepaul, of a Rani of a year old, which is said to be offered as a
ransom for the Child. The same is practised among the Chinese. * Torquemeda says, 5 " Two
" things are very remarkable : the first is, that the parents of the children should have sold them,
" and given them voluntarily for sacrifice : the second, that the sale itself should have taken place
6( on the second day of this month, (February,) at the very time that we, who are Christians,
" celebrate the festival of the presentation of the Virgin without spot, in the temple of Jerusalem,
" holding in her arms her most blessed child, the Son of God, whose life was sold for the sin of
" the fiist woman who existed in the world, carrying him to present and make an offering of him,
" manifesting, as it were to God, the sacrifice which was afterwards to be accomplished on the
" tree of the cross." 6
11. Mr. Humboldt has written much respecting the Americans. It is a remarkable circum-
stance that it should never have occurred to him, that the ignorance in the South Americans of
the use of letters and iron, were decisive circumstantial proofs of their very great antiquity, and
their very early separation from the stock of the old world ; but this great antiquity he considers
proved from a variety of other circumstances. He says, " It cannot be doubted, that the greater
" part of the nations of America belong to a race of men, who, isolated ever since the infancy of
" the world from the rest of mankind, exhibit in the nature and diversity of language, in their
" features and the conformation of their skull, incontestable proofs of an early and complete sepa-
" ration/* 7 Except in the article language he is quite right.
Malcolme shews that Tautah in the American language means Father 5 in Irish, Dad \ Welsh,
Tad or Taduys $ Armoric, Tat; Cornish, Tad and Tas 5 Scotch, Dads St. Kelda, Tat; and in
Guatimala, Tat 5 in Old Italy, Tata ; in Egypt, Dade 5 in Greek, Tetta \ in Old English, Daddy. 8
The American Taut-ah is the Indian Tat.
After shewing at great length that the Mexicans must have had their mythology from Asia,
East of the Indus, Mr. Humboldt 9 observes, that he finds among them neither the Linga nor any
of those figures with several heads and hands which characterize the paintings and figures of the
Hindoos. But he distinctly admits that he finds the doctrine of repeated regenerations in cycles,
' Ant of Mex, Vol. VI, p. 177- 9 lb. p. 179.
3 Ib. p. 176. This was the water rose or Lotus. He was the Hose of Sharon, that is, he was the Rose of Ishuren,
or the God of the country where the language is called that of Posh or Push— the flower,
* Ib. note, Marsden. s Monarquia Indiana, Vol. II. p, 251.
6 Ant of Mex. Vol. VI, p. 201,
7 Researches in S. America, by Humboldt, Vol. I. pp. 249, 250, ed. Miss Williams.
a Dr. Malcolme's Letters. * Humboldt's Res. VoL II. p. 36, ed. Miss Williams.
VOL. II.
34 THE ASS AND HORSE. RACES OF MEN. — CHINA. TIBET. SPANISH POLICY.
Now this again seems to confirm my hypothesis, that they migrated from the old world so early
as to be before these corruptions^ early as the Linga was. And it has induced me to review the
early history of Buddhism, and to make me suspect that, in its early works, the Linga is not to
be found, and that it only came into use when the division between the followers of the Linga and
loni began to arise, which caused the horrible civil and religious wars, noticed in my former
volume, pp. 332, &c.
12. The founder of the Peruvian nation was called Bockica, the son and emblem of the Sun.
He was high priest of Soga-Mozo (here we have the Saga).1 His wife was called Chta, (Chia
is nothing but Eva corrupted,) Isis, or the Moon : he was described with three heads. Here,
I think, are the Buddha and Trimurti of India. His priests were called Xeques and Zaques.2
(These are Xacas, or Sagas, or priests of Wisdom.) Humboldt says, " The form of Government
" given by Bochica to the inhabitants of Bogota is very remarkable, from its analogy with those
" of Japan and Thibet, The Incas of Peru united in their person the temporal and spiritual
*c powers. The children of the sun were both priests and kings The Pontiffs or Lamas,
" the successors of Bochica, were considered as heirs of his virtue and sanctity. The people
f( flocked in crowds to offer presents to the high priests, visiting those places which were conse-
" crated by the miracles of Bochica." 3 In a very particular and pointed manner this Bochica
is said to be white or albus. This reminds me that the Sibyl pronounces the while sow of Alba
to be black. Alba means white : was Bochica Alb or LB— L—50, B=2=52 ? He had a peculiar
cycle of 13 years, and another of four thirteens or 52. This looks as if there was some reference
to our astrological instrument, called playing cards, which certainly came from North India, This
docs not seem so wonderful when we consider that we have just found their cycles the same as the
indictions of Constantine. What is the Romish Alb ?
The Peruvians believed in one Supreme Being, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, called Vira-
chocha and Pachacamack,4 who had revealed to them his religion. 5 The Mexicans called their
great God Yao INEFFABLE ; 6 and represented him by an Eye in a Triangle. The cross was every
where adored. T The Mexicans expected a Messiah. 8 Their history of the flood is almost a
close copy of that of Moses.9 Their baptism10 in the presence of witnesses is almost the
same as that of the Jews and Persians, and in the same manner they named their children and
offered them in the temple. They had the custom of sacrificing the first-born, the same as the
Jews, till it was done away by Abraham or Moses. They had also the right of circumcision.
(Refer to Vol. I. Book X. Chap. VI. Sect. 13, p. 724.) » Their temples were in the form of a
cross, and faced the four cardinal points.12 Their language has many Greek and Hebrew words
in it.18 They practised auricular confession.14 They have a sacred and select word like the
Indian Ow, which is never spoken $ but what it is, I do not find mentioned*
13, The union of the Jewish and the Christian mythos in one system, instead of their division
into two systems, at once proves that they cannot have been brought to Mexico at different and
distant periods. Had this been the case, there would have been two religions, as in all other
cases, in opposition to one another. It is a wonderful circumstance, that the Jews coming from
the city of Egypt built by Alexander, should have forgot to bring with them the knowledge of
1 Humboldt's Res. VoL II. p. 108, ed. Miss Williams.
* Ant of Mex. Vol. VI. p. 164 >, Lord Kingsborougk calls him the Mithra or Osiris of Bogota.
3 Humboldt's Res. VoL II. p. 109, ed. Miss Williams. * Antiq. of Mex, VoL VI, p. 365. * Ib. p. 128,
76 Ibid. P. 141. ep.115. 9RH7. "Pp. 45, 47.
« Pp. 67 and 1 15. » P. 96, » Pp. 1 15, 1 16. « R 1 15,
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 13, 35
letters and iron ; and still more wonderful^ that the Christian monks coming in a later day should
have had equally bad memories. AH that was necessary was, for those Jews to have told these
skilful smelters of metals, that by melting the lumps of their native iron in a wood fire they would
get iron and steel,
The identity of the Mexican and Chinese or North Indian mythoses being unquestionable,
attempts have been made, in several periodical publications, to account for their similarity by
supposing, that the Mexicans were colonies fleeing from the arms of Mohamedan or Tartarian
conquerors. But the writers do not tell us how the Jewish and Christian doctrines came to be found
in America, mixed most intimately together, and also with the idolatry of North India and Greece,
Other writers contend, that these colonists were Mongol or Tartar conquerors, who, not contented
with the conquest of China, conquered America also. But this leaves all the great difficulties
I have stated above unremoved. It is a most wonderful thing that these Tartarian heroes did not
take with them the knowledge of iron or letters : and that they, being Mohamedans, should convey
the Christian religion to the Mexicans instead of that of Mohamed !
It is also wonderful that they should take with them the knowledge of the Horse and the Ass,
though they did not take these animals themselves — pictures of them being seen every where
mixed with their other hieroglyphics i and, what is still more, as the reader will instantly see,
mixed most intimately with the Judaean mythos, — a hero mounted on an ass or a horse, sometimes
carrying a sword, sometimes a cross. It is impossible, on viewing them, not to recollect the
procession of Jesus Christ on the ass, into Jerusalem. The mythoses are evidently identical,
but their variations shew that they are not copies. Though they have plenty of pictures of thq
horse, the animal, be it observed, noticed in the Revelation, they have no knowledge of the
elephant or camel. But these were not in the Revelation 5 were no part of the mythos. They
have no sheep, but they have an animal like it, which they call Llama or Lamb. *
No part of the Mexican hieroglyphics is more striking than the exhibition of the horse or <ws,2
(for some are doubtful,) animals totally unknown in a state of nature to the Americans. I refer
to the plates' figures, Faria y Sousa, the Jesuit, says, that when the Portuguese arrived in the
Azores they found the statue, cut on the side of a mountain, of a man on horseback wearing a
cloak, his left hand on the horse's main, his right pointing to the West, with an inscription on the
lower rock but not understood. 3
It is necessary to observe here, that tribes, both of Negroes and bearded men, were found in
South America.4
The Codex Vaticanus, Volume II., is marked 3738. The plates in it are numbered to 146, but
the explanation goes only to plate 92, in either English or Spanish. The explanation purports to
be in Volume VI. p. 155, of Lord Kingsborough's work. My reader has only to look to the
figures, of the crucifixes which I have given, Fig. 12—14 ; and to reflect for one moment upon the
admitted anxiety of the Spaniards and the Popes to keep the knowledge of these things from the
European world, to see why the explanation of the Codex Vaticanus ends with plate 92. The
remainder has, no doubt, been suppressed to avoid the necessity of giving an explanation of the
crucifixes*
We every where meet with the Mexican divine names ending in tie, as Teotle, that is, Deo or
God tie. It has been observed by Lord Kingsborough, as well as by almost all the Spanish m-
S) that the Mexican language is so full of Hebrew words as to be almost Hebrew* We have
» Antiq pf Mexico, VoJ.VJLp 361.
* [Is this indisputable ? Do not the accompaniments of the rider bespeak a Spanish origin ? Yet, is not the Author's
opinion supported by the testimony of Faria y Sousa? Editor.]
3 Vol. I. p. 19, Eng. Ed 4 Antiq. of Mexico, Vol. VI. pp. 290, 291.
36 1AWS OP THE MEXICANS.
seen the God every where crucified and suspended from the Cross. We have found the sacred
animal the Llama1 or sheep. We have found the niythos of the crucified Saviour* We have
found every thing at last to centre in the Sun. The word tie is confessed not to be understood
by the Mexicans, nor by the Spaniards, who call it, for that reason, merely a termination. All
these matters considered, I think it may be the same as the word n^ZO He or xb® tla, the Hebrew-
name of the sign of the Zodiac, dgnus or Aries.* In Hebrew it means, when spelt with the tau,
n^n tie, hanged or suspended. See Fig. 14. I believe it meant crucified by hanging on a cross.
It was originally Buddha, as noticed before in Sect. 3, p. 24. For the same reason that the word
meaning 650 was applied to him, it was in succession applied to the God of wisdom, to the Lamb —
his second emblem, and to the crucified God Cristna.
14. All the Mosaic history is to be found in China according to Mons. Paravey, in which
he only repeats what was before pointed out by Bergeron, De Guines, &c. The Chinese
historians relate that one of their ancient despots endeavoured to destroy their old records,
but that a copy of their history, called the Chou-king, escaped. That book treats of the
terrestrial paradise, its rivers, waters of immortality, its admirable trees, fall of the angels and
of man, and the appearance at that moment of mercy ; also of the sabbath, confusion of tongues,
the manna in the Wilderness, the Trinity ; and of the Holy One in the West, who was in-
comprehensible and one with the TIEN. It states that the world cannot know the Tien except
by the Holy One, who only can offer a sacrifice acceptable to the CHANG-Ti.3 The nations arc
waiting for him like plants for a refreshing shower. The Tien is the Holy One invisible, and the
Holy One is the Tien made visible and teaching men. All this was taught by Confucius five
hundred and fifty years before Christ. Ancient inscriptions state the Jews to have come into
China about the time of Confucius. This is probably the arrival of a colony or doctrine of a new
incarnation going to them from the Western Ay oudia. The secret doctrine of the renewed incar-
nations seems, by being misunderstood, to have operated with them precisely as it did with their
Indian and Tibetian neighbours, for they are of the Tibetian or Buddhist faith, into which all these
doctrines dovetail perfectly. These facts and many more are detailed from different authors by
the learned Nimrod, Vol. III. p. 510. All these things good people, like Nimrod, suppose were
taught to the Tartars and Chinese by the lost tribes of Samaria. Those tribes are most useful
people j they account for every difficulty. In the East, in the West, in the North, in the South,
they are always ready at hand. Here is all the Jewish and the Christian niythos amalgamated
precisely as it is in Mexico, in Tibet, North India, and South India, all carrying with it proofs of
its almost universal prevalence or dissemination. But notwithstanding that we find remnants of
this mythos every where, the actual character of which cannot be doubted, yet in the respective
countries where they are found, the system is obsolete 5 they are remnants of an almost forgotten
system. They every where carry traits of the system of regeneration or of the cycles recorded in
the old Druidical circles or Cyclopsean monuments, found along with them, the origin of which is
acknowledged to be totally unknown. There cannot be any doubt that they have all flowed from
the same fountain ; have the same origin ; and the only question will be, whether they flowed
from the kingdom of the West, which Herodotus could not find, and Alexander thought it not
worth his while to notice, or from the kingdom of Ayoudia of India, with its capital probably, as
appears from its ruins, once the largest in the world — a city larger than London, the capital of an
empire more extensive than Europe. (See Vol. I. p. 438.)
There is scarcely a page of Lord Kingsborough's work which docs not exhibit proofs of the
1 Le Lama. * Barret on the Zodiacs, p. 10.
3 la the Chang-ti, Ch is the I aspirated ; <mg is a, o, rn eo , Ti is Di, the whole, Di lao.
BOOK II. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 15. 37
anxiety of the Spanish government to suppress the information which I have just now detailed,
and which does not also shew that it comes to us through the medium of the most unwilling of
witnesses. l Every contrivance which was possible was resorted to in order to prevent its arrival
in Europe ; and this accounts for the extraordinary and systematic opposition to the admission of
btrangera into New Spain. All people likely to be intelligent, such as physicians, persons sus-
pected of heresy, &c,, were prohibited from going thither. The reason assigned by the Spanish
government was,2 that they were prevented going that they might not create disputes and prevent
conversions. The author of the notes to Lord Kingsborough's book3 says, that he believes that
the Jews colonized America, and held it for one thousand j^ears, and that they introduced (as it
must have been along with their own) the Christian rites into the religion of the Mexicans, who
had never heard of Christianity, to shew their hatred of Christianity, and to turn it into ridicule;
and, that it was for this reason that they established the Christian doctrines along with those of
the Jews,— such as the resurrection, ascension, &c. The passage is so extraordinary, that I think
the writer must have meant it for a joke.
The close connexion between the Ameiicans and the old world was long ago seen, notwith-
standing all the exertions of the Spaniards to keep mankind in the dark, and fruitless endeavours
were made by Grotius and others to find a cause for it. An account of them may be seen in Has-
nage.4 It is there observed, that one of the districts has a German name — Estoteland; that the
name of a young sheep is Lam ; that one of their Gods is called Theut, and one of their kings
Theucb, evidently the same name; that their great Creative Principle is called Pachacama; (Pi-
akm-cama, that is, Pi-Acham, the wisdom of divine Love;} that they baptize their children in the
form of the cross, and have a notion of the Trinity ; that they adorn their idols with the cross and
mitre ; that they have a kind of Eucharist ; that virgins, consecrated to the God, make effigies of
paste and honey, which they consecrate with much ceremony, and afterward distribute to the
people, who believe they eat the body of their God. The people of North America were thought
by Penn to have an unaccountable likeness to the Jews, and the Massagetoe were thought to be
found in Massachusetts.
Tibet is called Tangutia. This is evidently ia tangut, the country of Tangut. The close simi-
larity of the Trinitarian and other doctrines of the Tibetians to those of the Romish Christians we
have seen. It is surely a very extraordinary thing to find the Peruvian triune God called Tango-
Tanga — evidently the same as the God of Tibet, both in name and character.5
15. In Vol. VI. p. 793 the Mexican cottrts are shewn to have had exactly the same number of judges
as those of the Jews ; that their sacred numbers were exactly the same 5 and that both nations kept
fasts for exactly the same number of days. Lord Kingsborough says, " the common law of every
" state in Europe has been confessedly modelled after the Mosaic law."6 This is a very impor-
tant observation, and I think its truth will not be disputed; but I think there is no other way of
accounting for it than to go to my primeval nation. The common law in most states is evidently
older than Christianity. We are told that St. Augustin brought Christianity into this island in
the year 596 ; but was there no Christianity in the time of Constantine or before ? Lord Kings-
borough says, (* the affinity between the Mexican and the Hebrew laws is greater than between
c* the latter and those of any nation with which we are acquainted."7 They circumcised with a
stone knife, the use of which was expressly ordered.8 It is remarkable that the circumcision of
1 Antiq. of Mex. Vol. VI. pp. 1 11. et seq. * Ib. p. 268 * Ib. p, 283.
* Book vi, Ch. iii. * See Parsons' Rem. Jap. pp. 206, 219, 220 $ also Georgius, Alplu Tib. p. 9.
« Antiq of Mex. Vol. VI. pp. 271, 2?2, » Ibid, p, 2?2.
8 Ibid p 273. The Abyssinian Christians practised circumcision and abstained from Pork, ibid. p. 274,
38 EASTER ISLAND.— LAST AVATAR EXPECTED,
the Jews should have been performed with a knife made of stone, which is emphatically noticed in
the Bible.1
16. Easter Island is situated in N. L. 27° 5" W. L. 109° 46' : it may be considered to be a part
of America. The most remarkable curiosity in this island is a number of colossal statues. On
the East side of the island were seen the ruins of three platforms of stone-work, on each of
which had stood four of these large statues ; but they were all fallen down from two of them, and
one from the third : they were broken or defaced by the fall. One was fifteen feet long and six
feet broad over the shoulders : each statue had on its head a large cylindric stone of a red colour,
wrought perfectly round, Others measured nearly twenty-seven feet, and upwards of eight feet
over the shoulders : and a still larger one was seen standing, the shade of which was sufficient to
shelter all the party of Captain Cook, who reports this, from the sun. The workmanship is rude,
but not bad, nor are the features of the face ill formed : the ears are long, according to the dis-
tortion practised in that island, and the bodies have hardly any thing of a human figure about
them. How these islanders, wholly unacquainted with any mechanical power, could raise such
stupendous figures, and afterwards place the large cylindric stones upon their heads, is truly
wonderful i It is observed that the most probable conjecture is, that the stone is factitious. The
island is about ten or twelve leagues in circumference,2 and must be in the Gulf of California.
But see Cook and Forster's Voyage, March, 1774. The Encyclopedia Londinensis says, the
names of the two statues left standing are Dago and Taurico. Here we have Dagon and Taurus*
Surely nothing can be more curious than these statues. Who placed them here j and when were
they set up ?
17. Every one must remember the accounts of the perfect horror with which the unhappy
Mexicans viewed the first horses, which the Spaniards took over to their country. This I will
now account for. It appears from Lord Kingsborough's book, &c., that they had all the mythos
which has been so fully explained, of the old world, — the immaculate conception, the crucifixion,
the resurrection after three days, the expectation of the return of their crucified Saviour, &c., &c.
Every Indian inquirer knows that the last Avatar was always expected by the people of Java to
come mounted on a white horse. Now, in several of the Mexican hieroglyphic pictures, though
their owners knew nothing of the horse, an animal, which might be either a horse or an ass, is
painted. ID these same pictures, the other parts of the mythos, the crucifixion, &c., are described.
From this it is evident, that although they were not able to convey the horse over the sea, yet
they could convey every part of the mythos \ the result of this was, that when the Spaniards
arrived in Hying machines, or machines propelled by the winds, — on the wings of the wind,—
across the boundless ocean, or from heaven,— their commander mounted on the unknown animal,
described in their ancient pictures to be that on which the promised God was to come ; 3 and,
carrying in his hand thunder and lightning, with which he destroyed his enemies at miles distant
from him, he was believed to be the last Avatar. Lord Kingsborough gives a very interesting
account of the effect which this superstition or belief had upon their conduct— taking away from
most of them, from devotion, all wish to resist their God, mounted on his horse and surrounded
by thunder and lightning-^and from others, through fear, all power : thus giving to their cruel
enemies an easy victory. I cannot conceive it possible to devise any thing more conclusive of
the truth of my whole system than this. All this accounts for numbers of circumstances relating
1 See Exod, iv 25 ; Josh v- 3; and Ant. of Mex. Vol. VI. p. 187- * Encyclopaedia Brit, art, Enster Island
* The effect which the death of the first horse had on the Mexicans has been thought very extraordinary and unac-
countable. It is now easily explained . by the destruction of the immortal, celestial animal they were in part unde-
ceived.
BOOK I. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 18. 39
to the conduct of Montezuma and his people, which have hitherto been utterly unintelligible.
And I think it seems evident, that if the miscreants from Spain had really understood their own
case, they would have had nothing to do but to have quietly taken possession of the whole empire
as its last Avatar and newly- arrived God.
Well, indeed, might Peter Martyr, Las Casas, and Torquemada, be puzzled with the horse, the
actual horse of the Revelation, in a country where the people had not the knowledge of the animal,
or indeed of any animal of the old world. Instead of accepting the possession of the empire
peaceably offered to them, by a most absurd and extraordinary mistake, the Spaniards determined
to terrify the people by ill usage, the account of which is given in the Antiquities of Mexico.1
18. Col. Tod2 states the mountains above Tibet, the highest ridge of Asia, to be called Andes —
these must have been in the countries of Tungusians, It is impossible on reading this not to
recollect the Andes and the Tanga-Tanga of Peru ; and it is equally impossible to attribute this
paranomasia and the other circumstances already described to accident. To account for this I
look into ancient histories, and I adopt the first rational and philosophical cause which is recorded,
and without difficulty I find it in the communication formed by the island of Atlantis of Plato ;
for the subsequent submerging of such an island or continent is neither improbable nor irrational,
— - but, when the attendant circumstances are considered, a dry historical fact, carrying probability
on the face of it It is no more improbable than the effects we see produced by volcanoes every
day. It is neither impossible nor improbable that when the Atlantis sunk, something of the same
kind should have happened in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
The legend of the sinking of a very large island is now well known in China and Japan, and in
both places an annual festival is kept to celebrate the escape of au excellent prince called Pdrwm.*
I cannot help suspecting an identity of mythos or an identity of fact. I apprehend, if the whole
or a great part of the Polynesian Islands constituted the highest grounds of a large continent
which sunk, the effect would be, when the sinking took place, to raise up the waters so as to
drown all the inhabitants, and after a short time to subside, and leave the points of the mountains
dry as islands. After all, a great difficulty must be allowed to exist, in all speculations on this
subject, arising from the fact, that there are none of the animals of one continent found in the
other. See Vol. I. pp, 293, 294, for M. Cuvier's opinion on this part of the subject.
The Mexicans, in their histories, as already stated, say they arrived in their present country
from the West. They always persist most strenuously that it was from the West they came $ and
they describe towns on the coast where they remained, for many years, in their progress to their
present situation, the ruins of which, they assert, are yet to be seen. They say they came across
the sea from another country. Now, was this Atlantis or not ? It is very desirable that the
remains of the towns should be sought for.
Lord Kingsborough has gone to an enormous length in proving that the Mexican rites, cere-
monies, &c., &c,, were almost precisely the same as those of the Jews, and that they must conse-
quently have been brought by the Jews to Mexico. But one most important observation offers
itself on this : We possess what we believe to be the knowledge of all the Jewish rites, history,
&c., &c., in Syria ; but this is not the way all these things are known by the Americans. All the
things said to have taken place in Western Syria, both with Jews and Christians, are said to have
been acted in America, and the case, in a great measure, is the same in India and China. There
is the same standing still of the sun, the same populifugia, the same deluge and persons saved in
a ship, the same immaculate conception, the same crucifixion and resurrection \ but they were all
in the American country, not in Syria. Now, it is very improbable that if the Jews of Western
1 Vol. VI. p. 343. * Annals and Antiq. of Rajast'han, Vol. I. p. 44,
a Kffirnpfer's Japan, Vol. II. Append, p. 13 3 Fab, Orig. Fag, Idol Vol. IL p. 180.
40 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Judaea or of Moses had gone in a body from their old country, they would ever wish or permit their
history to be located in the new one, towers of Babel to be built, waters to be passed, or places
to be shewn where the sun stood still. Nothing can account for all this except that, in all
countries, including among them Western Judaea, it was the figurative description of the renewed
Avatars.
It seems to me that the mythos which I have shewn to have universally prevailed, accounts in
a satisfactory manner, with one exception, for all the difficulties. Parts of it we have seen every
where ; a small part of it in one place, and a small part in another, but all, including the Jewish,
the same mythos. The discovery of the same system in America, as that in South India, in
North India, in Tibet, in Western Syria, &c., proves that at some extremely remote sera the same
mythos must have prevailed; and the variations which we find, whilst at the same time the general
character is preserved, are what we may naturally expect would arise as time advanced. What
we have now are the debris of the system.
19, We must recollect that the neglect to teach the Mexicans the arts of writing and making
iron, cannot be attributed merely to a few stray mariners and fishermen blown across the ocean.
The knowledge of the Americans, if canied to them at all in later times, must have been carried
by regular colonies from Greece, who taught them the rites and name of Bacchus ; of colonies
from Syria, who taught them all the minute parts of the Judaean mythos ; of colonies from
Tartary and China, who taught them the knowledge of the niythoses of those countries ; of colo-
nies from Europe, who taught them modern but not Papist Christianity. l Is there a human
being so credulous as to believe that all these colonies or parties of migrators, following one
another time after time, should have omitted to convey the knowledge of iron and letters ? I am
sure no person will be found to believe this : then what are we to believe, but that one great and
learned race held all these doctrines, as taught by me, in a period of the world when the inter-
course between the old and new worlds was easy compared with what it is at at this time ?
The one exception alluded to above is the difficulty of accounting for means by which the
system reached America. To meet this, may we not have recourse to the formerly-named island
of Atlantis, of the submersion of which we are informed by Plato, and which, I suppose, almost
connected the two worlds ? It was probably so near both, that, in the frail boats of those days,
colonies could pass, but in which the large animals could not be conveyed. Of course this submer-
sion must have taken place, and cut off the communication between the two worlds before the
knowledge of letters and the use of iron.
It cannot be believed that if ever the Mexicans had been told of the existence and use of iron,
excellent refiners and smelters of metals as they were, that they would not instantly have obtained
it from their mountains, where it is found in its native state. I shall be asked, How they could
pass in any great numbers, without the means of conveying the Horse, ttie Cow, the Sheep ?
For, if the two worlds were nearly connected by an intermediate island or islands, the passage of
the animals would have taken place. I admit the force of the argument in its fullest extent 5 as I
do the difficulty of accounting for the extraordinary fact, that there were none of the animals of
the old world in America. However, at last, an intimate connexion between the two worlds must
be admitted to have existed, and to have existed before the knowledge of iron or letters, in the
countries the Mexicans came from.
Some pet sons have thought that the Americans were colonies who passed by the. North, where
the continents join, or nearly join ; and, to the question, why they had not the horse ?— it may be
replied, that if the natives of Tartary or China emigrated by the North, in the neighbourhood of
1 The seed bruising the head, not the \\oman.
BOOK II. CHAPTER IV. SECTION 19. 41
the Arctic circle, as it must have been by that route, there is reason to believe that the horse could
not have been conveyed through this cold climate, perhaps could not have lived there. It is said that
the North-east of Tartary is too cold for this animal; and that there are none there. If we admit
this, then we may suppose that the migration took place from China, where the Hebrew language
was spoken, and where the Hebrew and Christian system flourished, as it has before been shewn
to have done in a very early period. l And if the emigrants went from China, we may thus account
for their going without taking with them the knowledge of syllabic writing. If we suppose a body
of Japanese or Chinese, amounting only to a few thousands on their arrival in Mexico, after jour-
neying for forty or fifty years, we may readily suppose that they would increase to two or three
hundred millions in five or six hundred years, in that fine soil and climate. But suppose we ac-
count for their ignorance of letters, and the want of horses, cows, &c., in this manner ; this will
not account for the ignorance of iron, and at the same time for the knowledge of the mythoses of
all the nations which I have just now enumerated : and, satisfactorily to account for this, I am con-
vinced we must ultimately go to my hypothesis, which naturally and easily explains the diffi-
culties.
Lord Kingsborough's work is unquestionably the most magnificent ever undertaken by an indi-
vidual. It is, indeed, an honour to his order and to his country. The bringing together into one
view, by means of Lithographic copies, the different manuscripts, from different and distant coun-
tries, will prove, indeed has already proved, of the greatest importance to science, and must greatly
aid the philosopher in his inquiries.
1 Sect. 14, p. 36.
VOL. TI. G
BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
CHRISTIAN RELIGION NOT NEW.—THE CARMELITES PYTHAGOREANS. — PONTIFEX MAXIMUS. — SEVEN SA-
CRAMENTS. EUCHARIST. — BAPTISM. — CHRISTENING.— CONFIRMATION. — BAPTISM OF BELLS.— ORDINA-
TION.— MARRIAGE.— EXTREME UNCTION. — PURGATORY. — AURICULAR CONFESSION.
1. I SHALL now proceed to complete the proof of the truth of the doctrine of Ammonius Saccas,
by shewing that every part of the VULGAR Christian religion is the same as that of the vulgar
religion of the Gentiles $ that there is nothing new in the Roman Catholic religion ; that, in short,
it is Reformed or Protestant Gentilism.
The reader has now seen that several of the MOST important doctrinal parts of corrupt modern
Christianity are nothing more than scraps of the Heathen mythologies of various kinds taught by
different nations, long previous to the Christian aera. He has seen the immaculate conception,
the incarnation, the trinity, with its various hypostases, and the crucifixion and resurrection, on
all of which I have yet much, which is very important, to produce. But,j£rs#, I think it expedient
to shew where a great number of the forms and ceremonies of minor importance came from. It
is more than probable that every part has been copied from some former religion ; that no part of
what has been really the system of the Christian priests was invented originally for their use.
To tradition it is indebted for every doctrine and rite wbich it possesses, though to fraudulent and
disbonest practices it is chiefly indebted for their establishment. This will be said to be a severe
and unjust sentence against the priests; but I am supported in my charge against them of
systematic falsity and fraud, by some of our first divines — Burnet, Mosheim, &c. In the very
early ages they not only practised it, but they reduced it to system ; (I allude to Origen's (Eco-
nomia $) they avowed it 5 and they justified it, by declaring it to be meritorious if in a good
cause. I repeat, it was justified by the highest divines in the church— openly practised— I believe
was never disavowed by any Pope, Council, or authorized body ; and, as I have proved in this
work, is continued by Archbishops to this day, who just practise as much fraud, as the improved
state of the human mind will tolerate.
I must say of Christian priests and their histories what Nimrod * has said on another class of
persons : " It is difficult to estimate facts delivered under circumstances which deprive the testi-
" mony of all moral value ; where falsehood is not an accident but a property of the speaker's
" character, and is not the error of a moment or the crime of an individual, but au organic
" bystem." The system of fraud is yet continued in the Protestant Church of England : for one
instance of which, I produce what is called the Apostles' Creed, which purports to be the compo-
sition of the Apostles, (as the Nicene Creed purports to be the composition of the Council of Nice,
and the Athanasian Creed, the composition of St. Athanasius,) when it is well known to every
» Vol. II. p, 494.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 1. 43
Bishop on the Bench, that however true it may be, it was not composed or written till long after
the death of all the Apostles : by whom, or when, or where, it was written no one knows ; but the
people are deluded into a belief, that it is not the work of a council or individual, like those of
Nice or St. Athana&ius, but of the collective body of the elect companions of Jesus Christ.
Now if we reflect upon the contents of the last book, and consider that all the esoteric doctrines
of the Orientals and of the tribe of loudi or Jews, and of Plato and the Heathens generally, were
at the bottom the same \ we shall not be surprised at finding the Lama of Rome adopting such of
the forms and ceremonies of his Heathen predecessors as he thought consistent with its restora-
tion to \^hat was, in his opinion, its primeval purity — what he considered its corruptions being
left out.
The Rev. Robert Taylor, in his Diegesis, has undertaken to shew that what Protestants have
maintained to be the corruptions of Christianity were the origination of it : and that the early
Christians were nothing but Egyptian Essenes or Monks, and that the Gospel histories were
extracts or compilations from the secret writings of these persons. To support this assertion, he
has given a translation of the sixteenth chapter of the second book of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical
History, in which the early Christians are most clearly proved to have been the Monks called
Essenes. That the Gospel histories are not originals, has been admitted by all divines I believe,
who have, or who wish to have, any character for learning. Reasoning after the manner of the
German divines — Semler, Lessing, Niemeyer, Halfeld, Eichhorn, Michaelis, &c.,— the learned
Bishop Marsh has put this out of all doubt. In his Notes on Michaelis, he has discussed it at
great length. Whether the Gospel histories were copied from the Essenean Scriptures may yet
admit of doubt, but certainly Mr. Taylor has shewn that all the ecclesiastical polity of the Chris-
tian is a close copy from that of the Esseneans, or I should say, Carmelites, according to the
account in Eusebius, when honestly translated. Their parishes, churches, bishops, priests,
deacons, festivals, are all identically the same. They had Apostolic founders; the manners which
distinguished the immediate apostles of Christ ; Scriptures divinely inspired 3 the same allego-
rical mode of interpreting them, which has since obtained among Christians, and the same order
of performing public worship. They had missionary stations or colonies of their community
established in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica, precisely
such, and in the same circumstances, as were those to whom St. Paul addressed his letters in
those places. Long before Mr. Taylor wrote, I had written my opinion that the Essenes were not
Christians, but that the Christians of the Pope were Essenes. 1 All the fine moral doctrines
which are attributed to the Samaritan Nazarite, and I doubt not justly attributed to him, are to
be found among the doctrines of these ascetics 5 but they are found unalloyed with the pernicious,
demoralising nonsense,2 which St. Paul and some of the fathers of the Romish Church obtruded
into their religion, and into what they were pleased to call, though to miscal his religion : and a
great part, and the worst part of which, has been retained by Protestants. If the opinion be well
founded, that their Scriptures were the originals of the Gospel histories, then it will follow
almost certainly3 that they must have been the same as the Samaneans or Gymnosophists of
Porphyry and Clemens Alexandrinus, and their books, which they were bound by such solemn
oaths to keep secret, must have been the Vedas of India ; or some Indian books containing the
mythoses of Moses and Jesus Christ : and this opinion, the striking similarity between the
* See Vol. I. pp.81— 84.
* May not this harsh opinion have originated in a too vivid recollection of the doctrines deduced from the writings of
St. Paul, by both ancient and modern polemics ? Editor.
62
44 THE CARMELITES PYTHAGOREANS.
histories of Buddha, Cristna, and Jesus, seems strongly to support. The Gymnosophists, it may
be remembered, we have found in great power in the isle of Meroe, in Upper Egypt, giving laws
to the kings, l This is the most reasonable scheme which I have been able to devise to account
for the identity of the history of Jesus and Cristna : and this seems to be confirmed by Mr. Taylor.
Benj. Constant says,a "En g^ndral, on n'a pas, a ce qu'il nous parait, assez consid6re la
ressemblance du clerg£ Chretien avec les institutions hierarchiques des peuples du Nord. Cette
resserablance est si frappante, m&me dans les details, que les ordres religieux en ont t\r€ la
consequence qu'ils descendaient des Druides. Un historian de la communautg des Cannes
appelle les Druides sanctos druides> Eliae filios, fratres nostros et prasdecessores (Hist. Carmel,
Ordin, I. 1, 4). Si vivendi genus et observantias regulares serio discusseris, dit un autre ecrivain,
reperies veros fuisse (Druidas) Carmelitas."
In the course of my studies I have turned my attention, in a very particular manner, to the
Ebsenes, and it was my intention to have had a much longer chapter than I have given relating to
them in this work, but the learned and ingenious Deist, the Rev. Robert Taylor, has superseded
me. It is of no use merely to rewrite the substance of what he has written respecting them in his
Diegesis, and written better than I could do it. The Romish Church, I believe, maintains that the
Essenes and the Carmelites were the same order of men. Of the truth of this I have no doubt.
Pythagoras is allowed to have been an Essenean, and he dwelt or v/as initiated into the order on
Carmel. Pope Gregory the Great invited the Carmelites from Syria and Egypt to Home, and
founded two most splendid and beautiful monasteries of the barefoot and the calceated orders • and
at that time he abolished their old rule, and gave them a new one. With the assistance of a most
respectable friend, an Augustinian. monk of the name of Rice, at both the times when I visited
Rome, I applied to the librarians at the monasteries, and endeavoured to obtain a bio-ht of their
old rule, by which they lived before the time of Gregory, which they acknowledged that they
possessed, but of which, after having first promised it, they would not permit me to have the
inspection. Within the cupola of St. Peter's is a colossal statue of the prophet Elias, under
which is the inscription, Uni versus Carmelitarum Ordo Fundatori suo S. Ehse Prophetse erexit
A. MDCCXXVII. I believe if he were not the founder he regulated the order. But its first
regulation, I think, may be found in the sixth chapter of Numbers. 3 A slight attention will satisfy
any reader that Moses was then regulating an order brought from Egypt, not instituting a new
one. They were called Nazarites. Jesus Christ was called a Nazante, not a Nazarene. It is
odd enough that our learned Grecians should not see, that Nafyopaiog does not mean Nazarene
but Nazarite : had it meant Nazarene it would have been Na£apijvo$. He was a Nazarite of the
city of Nazareth or of the city of the Nazarites. 4 At that' place was the monastery of Nazarites
or Carmelites, where Pythagoras and Elias both dwelt, under Carmel the vineyard or Garden
of God.
2. But the Romish Christ was something more than this. He was a renewed incarnation of
Divine Wisdom. He was the son of Maia or Maria. He was the Rose of Sharon and the Lily
of the_ Valley, which bloweth in the month of his mother Maia. Thus, when the angel Gabriel
gives the salutation to the Virgin, (see hundreds of very old pictures in Italy,) he always presents
her with the Lotus or Lily. Mr. Parkhurst says of the lily,5 « Its six-leaved flower contains
" within it seven apices or chives, i. e. six single-headed ones and one triple-headed one, in the
« midst— emblems of the five primary planets and of the moon, and the triple- headed chive or
1 Vol. I. p. 356. * Thfcse Th£olog soutenue ^ Beziers, en 1682 ; Const. Vol. II. p. 1 12.
3 Verses I3~21> 4 See Vol. I, pp. 540, 65S, 657, ' In voce ** «, V.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 2. 45
" style in the midst, of the sun in the centre of this system." Here, I think, in this Lily we have
a very pretty emblem of the trinitarian sun, the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, in the centre
of his system. And where did this Lily grow ? It was in Canuel, the Garden or Vineyard of God,
that this Nazir was found at Nazareth. But Nazir or Natzir means a flower, and that flower the
Lotus or Lily ; and it grew in the Valley of the Garden of God. My reader may think this very
mystical, but let him turn to the Bible and read the account of the Lilies and Pomegranates in the
temple of Solomon, on the high-priest's dress, and in the Canticles and works of Solomon, where
may be found the loves of Christ and his church, as our Bibles, in the heads of their chapters, call
them. I request him also to refer to what I have said in Vol, I. pp. 339, 340, respecting the
Lotus or Lily.
The Carmelites are in a vert/ peculiar manner attached to the worship of the Virgin Maria,
more particularly than any of the other monastic orders. In Egypt they dwelt, as Eusebius says,
on the borders of the lake of Maria, and in Upper Egypt the Gymnosophists, that is, the Indian
philosophers, were found in the island of Meroe. This, in the old language without points, would
be the same as Maria. It was near this place that Dr. Wilson found the temple with the history
of the flight of Joseph and Mary in it, depicted with the greatest truth and precision, noticed before
in Vol, I. p. 272. Now this being considered, I think it raises a presumption that there was some
foundation for the story of Jesus, or some other person for whom he has been substituted, fleeing
from a tyrant who wished to kill him, and who may have been dedicated, as Samuel was by his
parents, and who may, therefore, have become an object of jealousy to the tyrant, and of atten-
tion to Eastern astrologers, who might know that the period was ending, as Virgil "knew it at
Rome, and that a new protecting Genius would come to preside over the new age ; and in con-
sequence these astrologers, kings, might come to offer him their gifts — kings of the Mithiaic order
of the Magi, (vide Tertullian,) like our kings at arms of the order of heralds, not kings of nations.
In the book of the office of the Carmelites, which I bought at Clarendon Street monastery and
chapel in Dublin, Mary is called Maris Stella, Mother of our Maker, and the glorious Virgin of
Mount CarmeL She has forty-three names, the exact number which I counted under her statue
at Loretto, The Gospel of the Egyptians in the office is expressly acknowledged in the following
words, the heading of a prayer : The falling down of the Egyptian idols at the approach of the Son
of God. And the Sibyls are quoted. Dr. Walsh, in his lately published Travels, says, that the
Greeks call her Dei-para and Panayia. This last word is worthy of observation j it is not
unlike the Pandsea, the daughter of Cristna,
Thus far I had written when the fact of the island of Meroe having its name from mount Meru,
and also from the name of the Virgin, occurred to me as something singular, and I was for the first
time induced to apply to my Hebrew Bible for the mode of spelling Mount Moriah ; and there,
behold ! 1 find it is Maria — nno Mrie. When formerly I discussed the meaning of the Meru of
India, (Vol. I. pp. 355, 356,) I observed, that its meaning was not known ; but now I think we
have found it, in the name which we found in Siam — Maria — and it is the Mount of Maria, or of
Maia— called also, in Western Syria as in Pegu, Zian, and, as Josephus says, converted1 into
Jerusalem, which, he also says, was built by Melchizedek, and that it was before called Salem.
All this probably happened after Abraham sanctified it by the Yajna sacrifice of the Lamb.
Mr. Taylor goes so far as to suppose that our Gospel histories are the very Scriptures of the
Therapeutse or Essenes much corrupted : but I think in this he must be mistaken, and that they
are what the learned Christians of the Manichseari sect said of them, and what they have every
Lib vi. Cap, x,
THE CARMELITES PYTHAGOREANS.
appearance of being, viz,, a collection of traditions or histories, made by such men as Papias,
Hegisippus, &c., in their travels, taken from the Essenean school, which they found among the
devotees at the Essenean settlements above named, and to which St. Paul addressed his letters.
They were probably part of their Scriptures. Strangers would probably not succeed in obtaining
the whole, but only detached parts, which had become known out of the monasteria — out of the
crypts. And it seems almost certain from their titles — Gospel according to Matthew, &c., and
other circumstances, that they were never originally intended to be the actual writings of the
Apostles, but only on account of what it was believed that they had taught respecting Jesus.
Thus they are rescued from the charge, otherwise plausibly brought against them, of being forge-
ries. They are, in fact, what their titles call them, accounts of the doctrines which Matthew or
Luke was supposed to have taught respecting Jesus 3 but anonymously of course. But of this I
shall have much to say hereafter. This scheme seems to me to dovetail into all the other his-
torical accounts. We know Pythagoras was one of the Essenes or Therapeutae, that he got his
learning and morality, identically that of Jesus, either in Egypt or on Mount Carmel, where he
long resided,1 or in Babylon, or still more to the East. Indeed, it seems to supply the only con-
necting link wanting, between the East and the West.
Certainly the fact noticed by Mr. R. Taylor, that Philo described the Essenes before Christ was
born, and that Eusebius has shewn that those very Essenes, so described, were Christians,
at once proves that the Christians of his sect were not the followers of the man who lived and
preached in the time of Tiberius. I do not see how the evidence of Eusebius is to be disputed :
besides, his evidence is confirmed by the work of Philo, which we have and can refer to, in its
general character and account of the Essenes, and which completely bears out Eusebius.2 Be-
tween the accounts of Philo and Josephus, 3 I think there will not be found a greater variation,
than under the circumstances may be expected. The order may have considerably changed
between the time of Philo and Eusebius, and as it was his object to shew that they were Christians,
we may safely give a man, who had no regard for truth on other occasions, credit for a little
freedom of expression, to say the least, on this.
The early Protestants, having taken a dislike to monastic institutions, have exerted all their
ingenuity to persuade their followers, that the monastic order did not arise until about the year
£00, when they pretend it was instituted by one Antonius. Their object in fixing on so late a
date is, by this means, to strengthen their argument that, from the lateness of its origin, it cannot
be an uncorrupted Christian institution, but that it was one of the numerous corruptions of the
scarlet whore of Babylon, as they courteously call the Romish Church,4 The falsity of this is at
once proved by the fact, that Origen, who was born about the year 180, emasculated himself,
which shews in what estimation celibacy was held in his time. In order to be a monk, it was
not necessary, in his day, to attach himself to any order of monks, because there was then only
one order. But the account given of him by the learned Gale is quite enough to shew what he
was.
1 Taylor's Translation of Jamblicus, Chap iii.
8 These Essenean Chi litmus were probably X^$-'«w.
3 In the woiks of Philo not a \vord is said about Jesus Chribt, nor about his works, (Bryant on the Logos, p 17.;
But he ireats at large on the Logos. Philo appears often to have visited Jerusalem. It has been piovcd, against
Mangey and others, that he lived at the time of Christ When Philo speaks of being old, though he refeis to himself
at the time of writing, he is describing the embassy to Caligula many years before.
4 For they never hesitate to employ the weapons of abuse and sarcastic ridicule against their opponents, which if any
person retorts upon them he is instantly sent to Newgate or some other prison for three or four years.
BOOK II, CHAPTER I. SECTION 2, 47
" He gave the first lines to all mystic theology, by turning all scriptures, even the most plain,
" into allegories, according to the Platonic mode. — He was the first founder of monastic life,
" abstinences, and austerities. He emasculated himself, that is, extinguished virility, thereby to
" preserve chastity. He understood those precepts of our Lord, against having two coats, shoes,
" and making provision for the morrow, in a literal sense, as belonging to all Christians : and
" thence affected voluntary poverty^ as the monks of Egypt, his successors. He abstained from
fc necessary food, as the Pythagoreans and Popish monks : whereby he endangered his health.
" He affected superstitious sanctity and severities, abbtaining from necessary sleep, lying on the
" ground, &c., as monks." In addition to the above list of errors, Mr. Gale, as descriptive of
another error, adds the following sentence, a lamentable proof of the pernicious effects of what is
called religion, even upon the greatest learning and talent: " He held human merits, and justifica-
" tion by works, placing man's satisfactions, tears, contrition, and other good works, as the causes
" of remission of sins." 1 It is quite shocking to think into what pernicious absurdities the
corrupt or doubtful passages in those books have drawn even both good and learned men, as the
examples of both Origen and Gale prove.
Bochart against Feron,* says, "That the law or canon of celibacy is the doctrine of devils,
" 1 Tim. iv. 1, 3, which was well nigh established throughout Paganism, when Christ came into
" the world. There were some priests who castrated or gelded themselves, as those of Cybele, or
" of Phrygia, who were called Galli and Archigalli : and the Megabyzes or Megalobyzes, priests of
" Diana at Ephesus, and the Therophantes at Athens. Li brief, the celibacy of priests was in such
" esteem among the Pagans, that jSSneas, in ffirgil, (2Ein. Lib. vi.5) passing through the Elysian
"fields, which they made to be fwradise, saw no other priests there, but such as had passed their life
" in celibacy. There has been also a number of philosophers who have contributed to this error.
" This was one of the superstitions which Pythagoras brought out of Egypt, whence returning
£ unto Greece, he forbade marriage to those of his sect, and constituted a cloister of nuns, over
" which he placed his daughter. Plato held the same opinion, as also Heraclitus, and Demo-
" critus, and Zeno, the prince of the Stoics, who never approached to a woman. By which/'
says Gale, cf It is apparent that Antichrist's prohibition of marriage and monastic constitutions
" or canons are but cwroxp;<n£, an imitation of the Pagan celibacy and monastic rules : that the
" Popish nuns are but imitations or apes of the Pythagorean nuns."3
The Pythagoreans were divided in their colleges into novices and perfect. They affected a
superstitious silence ; they enjoyed all things in common ; they called their college KGJVQ&OV,
a community, as the monks and nuns call theirs Ccenobium, They had their fasts the same as
the Egyptian priests, and the Carthusians and Praemonstrarits. They had the same white gar-
ments. They had the same severities or discipline, mortifications, and purifications. They
were divided into contemplative and active, the same as the Egyptian priests and the monks.4
The great and striking similarity between the doctrines of the Essenes, of Jesus, and of Pytha-
goras, amounts almost to proof of the identity of the systems.
Pythagoras maintained the existence of one Supreme God, the immortality of the soul, and a
state of future rewards and punishments. These sentiments were common to him and almost all
the ancient philosophers. He probably believed in the existence of a great number of created
» Gale's Court of Gent. Vol. III. Book ii. Chap. i. pp. 134, 135.
* Part iiu Chap. xxv. S, 4, Art. L
8 Gale's Court of Gent. Vol. III. Book ii. Chap. ii. Sect. 9, p. 21 2. * See ibid. Sect, J, pp. 150, 15L
*0 THE CARMELITES PYTHAGOREANS.
beings, superior to man in their natures and attributes, but in every way inferior to God their
Creator, Under different names they answer exactly to the angels of the Brahmins, the Magi,
the Jews, the Essenes, and the Christians. The morality which he taught was in a very high
degree refined and good. In it is to be found, I believe, every doctrine for which the Christian
religion has been so much celebrated by its admirers. The truth of this assertion may be seen in
almost every page of Jamblicus's Life of Pythagoras. The examples are far too numerous to
recite here.
Pythagoras taught, and his followers maintained, the absolute equality of property, all their
worldly possessions being brought into a common store. They separated themselves from the
rest of mankind, and lived in buildings called monasteria or monasteries, and were themselves called
KOWO&OJ or Coenobites, By this name of Coenobites they are said to have been known at Crotona
in Italy, which might induce a suspicion that monasteries were founded in Italy much earlier than
has been generally supposed. l Before proselytes were admitted into the society they were
obliged to keep a long silence, and to serve a tedious noviciate ; and they took the three celebrated
vows, tria vota substantiality taken by all monks, of chastity, poverty, and obedience. His
followers ate no flesh meat, nor drank wine, and though he sacrificed to Apollo or the Sun at
Delos, it was at the altar where no blood was bhed, and with thanksgivings only. He held the
doctrine of the Metempsychosis, the same, or nearly the same, as it was held by the Brahmins,
the Persians, many of the Greeks, the Manichees, and many of the early orthodox Christian
fathers.
His followers were divided into two classes, one called Pythagoreans, the other Pythagorists,
The former only had their possessions in common, and are what answer to those amongst the
Christians called elect or perfect— who were, in short, the monks and nuns. They rose before
daylight, and though strictly worshipers of one God, they always paid a certain adoration to
the sun at his rising. Pythagoras, as well as his disciple Plato, considered the soul to be confined
in the body as a certain kind of punishment, and that old age was not to be considered with
reference to an egress from the present life, but to the beginning of a blessed life in future.2
Of all the Greeks, I apprehend Pythagoras was the most learned. It cannot be supposed that
he would spend so many years in Egypt, Phoenicia, and Babylon, in study, without knowing the
languages of these nations. He is said to have been the person who discovered the demon-
stration of the forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid, which, if true, was of itself
sufficient to immortalize him, But I am rather inclined to think that he discovered it not by
meditation, but by travel amongst the nations of the East, who understood and who taught him
the true theory of the motions of the earth and planetary bodies, and who, I believe, understood
the qualities of the loadbtone, * the art of making gun-powder, telescopes, Sec., &c., and who
were far more learned than the Greeks were at any time* I believe the Greeks were as inferior
to the oriental nations in real learning, as they were superior to them in poetry and the fine arts.
I beg the reader to look back to what has been said (Vol. L pp. 150, &c.) respecting the cir-
cumstances related of Pythagoras in the early part of his life, to the same also in the life of
Cristna, &c , (ibid. pp. 129, et seq.,) and, coolly divesting his mind, as far as possible, from pre-
judice, and from all angry feeling, caused by his early opinions being rudely assailed, consider
whether it be possible that such similarity in two histories could take place by accident. I beg
1 Jamblicus's Life of Pythag by Taylor, Chap. v. p. 18. « Vide ibid, passim.
3 See Parkburst's Lexicon, Cooke on Stonehenge, Stukeley's Stonehenge, and Pateographia, and Drummond in
the Classical Journal,
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 2. 49
him to ask, whether it be possible that the effect could be produced by any cause except that of
one copying after the other — that of the later copying after the earlier. Thomas Burnet says, 1
" Refert Alexander de Symbolis Pythagoricis, Taharaiv xou lBpa%[Aava)V awfimwai rov IluS-ayo-
" pav.* Hos igitur Galatarum Philosophos, Druidas, audivit, non docuit, Pythagoras." That
Pythagoras was a Carmelite see Mosheim.3
Mr. Maurice seems to consider it of great consequence that the immaculate conception of Jesus
by his mother, a virgin, is very different from the birth of Cristna, who had seven or eight elder
brothers. But he overlooks the fact that Jesus is said to have had almost as many. 4 Now this
seems to me of very little consequence. I do not suppose that one story was exactly copied from
the other — that at any time a copyist or transcriber went to the Hindoo books and systematically
extracted what he thought necessary to form a new religion. No, indeed ! I consider the account
of the Manichaeans to be the truth — that these books were formed from scraps of traditions
collected by the early fathers, some here, some there, as they happened to find them in their
journeys, which it is well known that they took into the Eastern countries, in search of the true
Gospel. Thus some parts would be as we find them — Indian, some Persian, some Egyptian, &c,,
&c., jumbled together, forming, after undergoing the corrections #hich I have before described, the
mass which we now possess — after all their corrections in a considerable degree confused and
irreconcileable. Thus we find that from India came the murder of the innocents, &c., &c. 5 from
all quarters of the Heathen world came the Trinity, the execution of the Saviour, the Lord Sol,
the lao, born at the winter solstice, triumphing over the powers of hell and darkness, and rising
to light and immortality at the vernal equinox j from the Egyptian, and perhaps Eleusinian, mys-
teries, the worship of the Virgin and Child ; and, from the history of the Pythagoras, the imma-
culate conception, and the several particulars which the reader has seen, are common both to him
and Jesus, in the early parts of their lives.
That the Christian Hellenistic Jewish fathers should have searched for the origin of their
religion in the East, will not surprise any one who observes that the Greeks found in the same
quarter all their astronomy and their mythological fables, as may be seen well developed every
where in the Hist. Hind, by Mr. Maurice.
On the subject of the Essenes, who were' nothing but Pythagoreans, Thomas Burnet says,
u Huic dissertation! de Judaeis fineru imposuero, venit mihi in mentem Essenorum sive Essseorum,
tc pervetustae, celebrisque olira sectae, apud Judaeos : qui priscorum Philosophorum speciern pree
" se ferebant, ipsosque Brachmanas institutis et vitae ratione imitar; videbantur. 5 Horum
" meminerunt authores varii. Plinius, subridens, ex ^?cenitentibus et perteesis humanse vitas
" ccetum ilium compositum ait, neque unquam defecisse per aliquot annorum millia, licet ayujw
66 XOLI a(rw8<n<x.fQV. « Gens sola, inquit, Esseni, et in toto orbe, prater caeteras, mira. Sine
" * ull& foamink, omni venere abdicata, sine pecuni£, soci& Palmarum. In diem ex sequo conve-
" ' narum turba renascitur, frequentantibus, quos vit& fessos, ad mores eorum fortunae fluctus
** * agitat. Ita per saeculorum millia (incredibile dicta) gens seterna est, in quit nemo nascitur*
" * Tarn foecunda illis aliorurn vitae pcenitentia est.? Argute dictum si minus vere. Horum phi-
" losophorum vivam imaginem depinxit Philo Judaeus : vitamque eorum exhibuit, illi simillimam
" quam duxerunt olim in Paradiso innocui parentes : et nos iterum ducturi sumus, Deo volente, iu
*c nov£ terra" futuri. Onerosum esset totum Philonis de h^,c re sermonem adducere : sed, quod
1 Arch Phil. Cap. Si. p, 8, 4to. a Clem. Alex. Strom. Vol. I. p, 304.
: Hist. Vol. Ill, Cent. XII. Ch. il p. 75. * Matt. xiii. 55, 56 $ Mark vL 3. s Josephus, cont. Ap, Lib. i
VOL. II. B
50 THE CARMELITES PYTHAGOREANS,
" hoc spectat maximfc quid de philosophic sensermt, ita panels enarrat. ' Philosophise partem
" c Logicam, ut parandee virtuti non necessarian*, relinquunt verborum captatoribus. Physicam
** c ver&, ut humano captu majorem, rerum sublimium curiosis : e& parte except&, qute de exis-
" c tentii Dei, rerumque ortu, philosophatur. In moral! autem se strenue exercent/ &c. Pauca
" habent, ut vides, in philosophic naturali, sed gravissima, capita : de Deo nempe, mundique
" ortu. Sed qu& ratione mundi originem exposuerint, aut quatenus a Mose discesserint, non
" indicat Philo. Neque plura suppetunt, quod sciam, apud authores, Essenorum dogmata
"physica: mod6 ea adjunxeris, quse, ex illorum mente tradit Josephus, de auimarum immorta-
"litate et futuris paradisis, Reliqua in suis libris sacris, quorum ille meminit,1 occuluerunt:
" et quserenda sunt maxime apud Brachmanas. Apud Brachmanas dico : cum illorum esse pro-
" paginem Essenos, ex Clearcho notarit Josephus.2 Tta enim Clearchum intelligo, non Judaeos
" in genere, sed scholam Essenicam derivatam esse a BrachmaniclL Quod ex cognatis moribus et
ts institutis non mal£ arguitur,"3
This passage of Burnet's suggests several very important observations, I was not a little
gratified to find that the close relation between the Hindoos and the most respectable of all the
Jewish sects, of which I have not the slightest doubt that Jesus Christ was a member, that of the
Essenes, had been observed by this very learned man almost a hundred years ago, before the late
blaze of light from the East had shone upon us. What would he have said had he lived till now ?
I think from the tria vota sitbstantialia being common both to the Essenes and the Samaneans
of Porphyry, there can be no doubt that the latter were correctly oriental Essenes, — Their history
must have been well known in the time of Pliny : and his observation of their continuance per
millia sasculorum decidedly proves their existence, if proof were wanting, long before the time
of Christ) therefore they could not be merely Christian monks. They could be no other than
Sophees.
I cannot help entertaining a suspicion that the Samaneans of Porphyry and Clemens Alex-
andrinus, the Buddhists or Brachmans, as they were called, the Chaldaeans, confessed by Buruet
to be only a sect,4 the Essenes, and the Druides, were, in fact, all orders of monks. Perhaps
they were originally one order, but in long periods of time split it into separate communities, as
we have them in Europe— but all having the same vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience — vows
which, in fact, reduce all monks to one order or genus,
*e Constat autem apud has gentes (Cdtas) viguisse ab omni sevo philosophos, sive hominum
*' ordinem, nomine, studiis, et vitse institute, a vulgo, aliisque distinctum, Dicti sunt ab omnibus
" Druidse vel Druides : Semnothei etiam ; aliisque nominibus, quge nil faciunt ad rem nostram,
" distingui solent." 5
Epiphanus bays that there were TWENTY heresies before Christ. It is curious, and there can be
no doubt that there is, much truth in the observation, for most of the rites and .doctrines of the
Christians of all sects exibted before the time of Jesus of Nazareth.6
It is the policy of the present Christians to reduce the number of heresies as much as possible.
But the fact cannot be disputed, that what were called Christian heresies existed in great
numbers before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, as asserted by Epiphanius and Philaster, and
quoted generally with approbation by Eusebius : although he differs from them in some points,
particularly as to which of the sects preceded Christianity. It seems singular enough, however,
that these good people do not perceive that it proves the actual' existence of two Christianities,
» Bel, Jucl Lib. ii, p. 12. * Cont. Ap. Lib i. 3 Arch. Phil. Cap, vii. pp. 69, 70, 4to.
4 Arch. Phil, Cap, iv, p. 20. * Ib. Cap. ii. p. 7. 6 See Lardner's Hist. Her, Book i. Sect. 5.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 3, 51
But I think my reader who recollects what has been said of the youth of Larissa in the first
volume, l will not be much surprised at this.
The conduct of the first Christian Emperor Constantine, was very singular. He was both
Christian and Pagan. He affected to be descended from Helen the female generative principle,
he kept the Heathen festivals after he turned Christian, and when he built his new city he placed
it on seven hills, making it as near as possible a second Ilium or new Rome, and dedicated its
church to the holy Sophia. I have little doubt that if we could get to the bottom of the subject,
we should find proof that he affected to be a renewed incarnation, the Paraclete promised by Jesus,
the tenth Avatar, and the renewer of the empire of ancient Rome, in the last cycle. But it must
be recollected that we are here in the very centre of the aera of frauds, of every kind, and that he,
that is, his church, was able to destroy, and did destroy, every thing which it did not approve.
It could corrupt what it pleased, and we scarcely possess a single writing which it ordered to be
destroyed, which is a sufficient proof of its power to effect its wicked designs. Constantine was,
in fact, both Pagan and Christian $ and his church, as I will now prove, was more an union of the
two, than a substitution of one for the other.
3. I shall now proceed to shew, that the remainder of what, in modern times, are called the
rites of the church of Jesus of Nazareth have nothing to do with him, and are only figments of the
old Gentile religion, and I shall begin at the head, the Pontifex Maximus.
The Roman Pontifex Maximus was called King of the Age. 2 This was the same as Cyrus,
A«ov ro)V ajrovcov. As endowed with a portion of the holy spirit he was God. Thus in him
resided a portion of the divinity on earth. It was from these mysticisms that the power of both
the ancient and modern chief priests was derived. How this Pontifex arose I shall shew in a
future page, along with the origin of feudal tenures, and I conceive it will not be the least inte-
rebting part of my work.
Tertullian calls the Pontifex Maximus KING OF THE AGE. This is Ba<r*Xsu$ aucw ra>v aicovwv
— King of the Cycles. Dionysius of Halicarnassus assures us, that the Pontifices Maxioii had a
sovereign authority in the most important affairs, for to them was referred the judgment of all
causes which concerned sacred things, as well those in which individuals were concerned, as those
of the public. They made new laws on their own authority, as new occasions called for them.
They had the care of all sacrifices, and generally of all the ceremonials of religion. They had
also the jurisdiction of all the officers employed in the affairs of religion. They were the inter-
preters of the prophecies, concerning which the people were used to consult them. They had
power lo punish at their discretion those who failed to execute their commands, according to the
exigency of the case j but were themselves subject to no other person, and were not obliged to
render an account either to the senate or to the people. When the high priest died his place was
filled by the choice of the college, and not by the senate or people. 3 All this is strictly pa-
pistical.
Alexander ab Alexandro says, 4 That the sovereign Pontiff was elevated in honour above all others.
The people had as much veneration for his dignity as for that of the king's. He had his lictors
and guards, his peculiar chair and litter, the same as the consuls : he alone had the power of
ascending to the capitol in a chariot. He presided and ruled in the sacred college over all the
other pontiffs : the augurs, the priests, and the vestal virgins, all obeyed him : he had the power
of chastising them at his pleasure. He governed according to his pleasure all sacred things.
1 Pp. 571—573, 582, 583, 786, 78?. * Basnage, Book iii. Chap, xxiil
3 Dion* Halicar. Ant. Horn* Lib, ii, ,• also Livy in his Life of Nuraa, Lib. i. * Genial. Dierum, Lib. ii.
52 PONTIFEX MAXIMUS.
He ordered on what altars, to what Gods, by what hostise, victims, on what days and in what
temples the sacrifices should be made : he fixed the feasts and the fasts, when it was permitted to
the people to work and when it was forbidden. If this be compared with the Papal powers it
will be found in every thing to agree. The Canonists maintain that the Pope is not subject to
any human law ; that he cannot be judged either by the emperor or by the clergy collectively,
neither by the kings nor by the people ; that it is necessary to salvation to believe, that all
creatures are subject to him 5 that as the Sun is said to be lord of the planets, so the Pope is the
father of all dignities. l
Innocent the Third called himself Vicarius Jesu Christi, successor Petri Christus domini, Deus
Pharaonis, citra Deum, ultra hominem, minor Deo, major homine.2 Platina, in his Life of Paul
the Second, says, " I and others being cited before the Pope appealed to the judges, when
te regarding me with furious eyes, he said, * How dare you speak to me of judges ? Ne sais-tu
" ( pas que j'ay tout le droit dans le cofFret de ina poitrine ? I speak the word and each quits his
" c place according to my will. I am Pope : it is permitted to me to chastise or to approve of all
" * others according to my will/'* This is confirmed by Baronius in his remonstrance to the city
of Venice.3 " Whence comes it,** he says, "that you dare to judge the Judge of all, whom no
" council legitimately assembled has dared to judge ; him from whom the universal counsels take
" their authority, and without whose fiat they cannot be general councils or be legally convoked,
" nor the canons which they ordain have any authority ?" In short, Baronius shews that the
conformity of the modern to the ancient Pontiffs, called kings of the sacred affairs, is as close as
possible, even to the most trifling things, such as not being expected to salute any person or to
uncover his head, but that he was used to wear the same purple robes as kings, and a crown of
gold on his head.
As I have shewn, the Pontiffs had the power of regulating all festivals, and, in short, the whole
calendar. Thus Julius Caesar, in quality of Pontifex Maximus, reformed the calendar, and in the
same manner it was reformed again by the Pontifex Maximus— Pope Gregory the Thirteenth.
Cicero, concerning the Pagan Augurs, says, " No order of true religion passes over the law
€C concerning the description of priests.
" For some have been instituted for the business of pacifying the Gods/'
<e To preside at sacred ceremonies.
et Others to interpret the predictions of the prophet.
se Not of the many, lest they should be infinite.
" But that none beside the College should understand those predictions which had been publicly
" recognized.
" For augury, or the power of foretelling future events, is the greatest and most excellent thing
" in the republic, and naturally allied to authority.
" Nor do thus I think, because I am an augur myself; but because it is absolutely necessary for
66 us to think so.
** For, if the question be of legal right, what is greater than the power to put away from the
" highest governments their right of holding counsels [councils ?] and issuing decrees ; or to abolish
" them when holden f What more awful, than for any thing undertaken, to be done away, if but
" one augur hath said otherwise ?
" What more magnificent than to be able to decree, that the supreme governors should resign
' Extrav. de Concess. III. Praeb. C. Sedes Apost, in Glossa Dist. 19, c.
• Namrod, Vol. III. p. 508. s Judicum Universorum.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 3. 53
*' their magistracy? What more religious than to give or not to give the right of treating or
" transacting business with the people ' What than to annul a law if it hath not been duly
" passed^— and for nothing that hath been done by the government, either at home or abroad, to
" be approved by any one, without their authority ?" 1
The present Roman hierarchy is an exact copy of the hierarchy of the Gentiles, as it is also
given by Plutarch, and I have no doubt it originally came to the Etruscans from the Ombri and
the Eastern nations. Gale says, that " The Romans made Romulus a Flamen ; which was a
" sort of priesthood so excelling in the Roman sacred things, (witness the Apex,) that they had
" only three Flamens instituted to the three Gods : the Diale to Jupiter : the Martiale to Mars :
" the Quirinale to Romulus. Ludovicus Vives on this place, explaining what this Flamen
" dedicated to Romulus was, tells us, € That among the orders of priests, Numa Pompilius made
" ' some, which he called Flamens : whose chief ensign was a HAT, as the bishops now, wherein
" * there was a thread of white wool: whence they were called Filamines, from filalanae.* — This
" Apex, the Romans gave to none but their chiefest priests, as now the Mitres. So Lucan, Et
" tollens Apicem generoso vertice flamen." Here, as Gale says, 2 very truly, is the bishop, the
proto-flamen, and the mitre is the apex; and to complete the parallel, there is the Pontifex
Maximus in each case — the Pope assuming to himself that epithet of dignity in his public titles.
The hat of the flamen is the hat of the cardinal in his scarlet robes : but I shall say more on
this hereafter.
The Pontifex Maximus had under him a regular gradation of priestly officers, precisely like
those of the Pontifex Maximus of the moderns — the Pope. He had, in the first place, his college
of high-priests, of whom his council was composed, with whom he deliberated concerning im-
portant affairs. To answer to this, the Pope has his cardinals. The Pontifex Maximus had also
persons called highnesses,3 who answered to the Primates, the Archbishops, and the Bishops :
he had also lesser ones, who answered to the Parsons and Curates of the Pop£, and were called
Curione$9 whence comes our word Curate. He had also a number of Flamens, that is to say,
(Prcstres,) priests, who assisted in the offices of the church as at this day,4 The Abb£ Marolles
confesses the conformity, including the Vestals, who are the Nuns.
The ancients had an order of priests called Parasiti or Parasites. These answered correctly
to our modern chaplains.
At first the Pontifex Maximus did not interfere with secular affairs ; this was, I suppose, after
the expulsion of the kings who were priests \ but, by degrees, he encroached on the secular
authority, till, in the time of Caesar, he had become so formidable that the Dictator found it
necessary to take the office himself, and thus he acquired possession, by the union of the secular
and ecclesiastical authority, of absolute and legal power \ and the emperors, as may be seen from
coins, after Caesar, were both Pontifices Maxim! and Emperors.5 The popes followed most
closely the footsteps of their predecessors. At first, they did not meddle with secular concerns,
but acknowledged the supremacy of the Emperors, and themselves as vassals \ but after the death
of Constantine the First, pleading a gift from him of the kingdom of Italy, they assumed the
1 De Legibus, Lib. ii. 12, apud R, Taylor's Dieg. pp. 140,141,
* Court of Gent. Vol. III. Bk. ii Clu ii. pp, 224, 225. 3 Blond, Rom, Triumph. Lib. ii. p. 31. * Mem, de Mar.
* The early kings of Rome were both kings and priests, and when they were abolished a chief priest was retained
with reduced power, but which he was constantly endeavouring by all means to increase. This will be explained in a
future page.
»4 PONTIFBX MAXfMUS.
;ro\vn, which they yet affect to wear, never yielding up their pretension to it ; for they hold the
same doctrine as the Protestant Church of England — that Nullum Tempus occurrit Ecclesiae.
The alleged gift of Italy by Constantiue, is said by Protestants to be false. I am inclined to
believe it true : for nothing could be too bad for such an unprincipled devotee to execute, at the
point of death, that he fancied would save his soul from damnation, which he was conscious he
deserved. On the Papal authority Innocent I1L said, " Ecclesia sponsa non nupsit vacua3 sed
t£ dotem mihi tribuit absque precio preciosam, spiritualium plenitudinem et latitudinem tempora-
61 Hum. In sign um spiritualium contulit mihi Mitram. In signum temporalium dedit mihi
" Corouam. Mitram pro sacerdotio, Coronatn pro regno, illius me constituens vicarium qui habet
" in vestimento et foemore suo scriptum, Rex Reguni et Dominus Domiuantiuin." !
The Roman Pontiff had the name of Papa, which is the same as the natives of central Asia gave
to their principal God Jupiter, as may be seen in the fourth book of Herodotus. He was also
called the SOVEREIGN Pontiff, which was the title that the Pagans gave to their chief priest*
The Popes on ascending the throne always assume a sacred name. This is an exact imitation
of antiquity. All kings were anointed, to render them sacred ; and on this occasion I believe they
always assumed a sacred name, which had generally, perhaps always, an astrological allusion.
The high-priests were anointed for the same reason both among the Jews and Heathens. This
is the Etruscan baptism with the Holy Ghost. It is expressly declared to be so in the case of
priests, Though Octavius dared not to assume the title of king, he, as high-priest, assumed the
sacred title of Augustus — an Egyptian title given to the Nile — as his predecessor, Julius, had
assumed the title of Csesar, the name of the God Mars. This is an exact imitation of the practice
of the Hindoo kings, and, indeed, of that of all opulent persons in India who take a sacred name
from one of their Goda. This is the custom which has destroyed all ancient history by rendering
it impossible to know where history ends and where religious fable begins.
Sextus V., in his bull of excommunication of Henry of Navarre, in 1585,2 claims to possess
power as successor of St. Peter from the Eternal, above all the princes of the earth, and to have
power to punifeh them for their breaches of the laws.
The Emperors, as Roman Pagan pontiffs, claimed the same power and exercised it, as delegates
of the person described by the THS 608— until the last age should arrive. They established the
claim attempted to be set up by Antiochus, by Syila, and by Scipio Africanus. At last, Nero
claimed to be the Tenth Avatar. Infinite have been the pains of the priests to conceal these
things, but I flatter myself they have failed.
It is unnecessary to point out to the reader how very near, in the middle ages, the Popes were
in succeeding in their claim to the disposal of all kingdoms. This is a fact. We shall see in a
future page the foundation on which this claim rested. By skilfully interfering between the
Royal brutes and their oppressed subjects, they had very nearly succeeded, with the acclamations
of the people, in establishing their power. Then Europe would have been precisely in the situa-
tion of Tibet at this moment.
The Roman Emperors and the Pontifices drew imposts from all the nations of the world. The
Pope, in like manner, had his Peter's pence, under which name all Europe paid him tribute. It
was the policy of the Roman Emperors to make the Latin tongue the common language of all
nations \ the Popes desired the same thing — which was the secret reason for their wi&hing the
service always to be in Latin, the language of the See.
It was permitted by the Emperors for any one to kill those who were devoted to the infernal
1 De Coronat Pot. Serm. III. * HI. Mezcray reports this bull iu the Life of Henry III. p. #6?.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 3. 55
Gods \ this was exactly imitated by the Popes who granted leave to any person to kill those who
were excommunicated. The Emperors and Pagan Pontiffs had habits and shoes of purple ; their
senators were clothed in the same colour, which they call trabea. The Pope has the same habit and
the same shoes, as may be seen in the book of sacred ceremonies. 1 The Cardinals, who compose
his Senate, and whom Pius II. called Senators of the city of Rome, are also clothed with purple.2
When a Pope is crowned, a triumphal procession takes place from the Vatican to the Church
of the Lateran, during which the new Pope throws money to the people, precisely as the Emperors
of old were accustomed to do in the processions on their coronation. As the Emperors and
Pontiffs were accustomed to send to their allies, as an acknowledgment of their good offices, a
baton of ivory, a painted robe, or similar trifling presents ; so the Popes send to kings and princes
sometimes a rose, sometimes gloves, and sometimes a sacred sword, or an Agnus Dei,
The Emperors had the title of God, Deus or Divus. Virgil, in his first Eclogue, so calls
Octavius, and Suetonius, in his Life of Domitian, says, 3 he wished when his commands were sent
to his lieutenants, that the words, The Lord our God commands it should be used. The same,
nearly, was attributed to the Pope.4 " As there is only one God/* says he, Cf in the heavens,
" so there ought to be one God only on earth." 5 Du Perron, in his letter of thanks to Pope
Clement VIII. for his promotion to the rank of Cardinal says, " I have always revered your
66 beatitude as God on earth"
Aurelius Victor tells us, speaking of Diocletian, that the Roman Emperors and Pontiffs were
adored by the people.
The last excess of baseness required by the Emperors Caligula and Heliogabaius was, the
kissing of the foot. This every one knows is done continually to the Pope. Their modern
followers say, that they do not kiss the foot but the cross, which is embroidered on the shoe, A
mere idle subterfuge. Why is not the cross placed in some more honourable situation ? The
same reason would excuse them for kissing a place of still less reverence, which might be named;
but it would hardly be thought respectful to place the cross there.
But the kissing of the toe was of much older date than the times of Caligula and Heliogabaius $
Julius Caesar, in quality of Pontifex Maximus, held out his foot to Pompeius Psenus to kiss, in a
a slipper embroidered with gold, socculo aurato. 6 This was the practice of the Arch Druid in
Gaul.3'
As many of the Emperors were models of every virtue, so it cannot be denied that many
of the Popes were most excellent men : but that the parallel might be complete, as many of the
Emperors were the most detestable of characters, so it cannot be denied that they were fully
equalled by some of the Popes in profligacy of every kind.
The title of Pontifex Maximus is strictly Heathen. When the Pope is elected, he is borne in
great state to the high altar in St. Peter's, on which he is placed, and where he receives the
adoration of all the Cardinals. 8 This is a close copy of the same practice of the Heathen to
their high-priest. 9 * And it appears that Martin IV. was addressed, " O lamb of God9 who takest
away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace'9 10 The very words used in their service by the
Carnutes of Gaul., as we shall soon see,
In the ceremonies of initiation into the mysteries of Samothrace and Eleusis, the novice was
* Lib t Cap, vi. Sect. I. * Vide Lips, Lib. iv. Cap. ii. de Admir. seu de Magni. Horn*
3 Cap. xiii. * See Froissard, Tome IV, Chap. x. * Deor. I. part. Dist Cap. xcvi satis evidenter.
6 del. Spec. Etym. Vocab, p. 104, 7 Ibid. * Vide Eustace's Travels.
9 Priestley's Hist. Corrup. Christ. Vol. IL pp, 295, 329 ed, 1782. 10 Ib. 330, 331.
56
PONTIFEX MAXI3VIUS.
placed on a throne, and the initiated formed a circle and danced round him to a sacred hymn
which they sung.1 In one of the spurious Gospels, as they are called, Jesus and his apostles,,
are said to have performed a similar ceremony after his last supper* When the Cardinals advance
in a circle to the adoration of the Pope, placed on the chair of St. Peter, and when again every
Sunday they draw up in a circle round him, and go down on their knees to him, they do but repeat
this ceremony. And, I think, that although the novice, after the performance of this ceremony,
was not in reality the Pope, or head of the fraternity, yet for the sake of admitting him to the
highest of the mysteries, he was supposed to have filled the office 5 he was admitted to have filled it
for a few minutes— performing some act of authority whilst so elevated. I have reasons for this
which I shall not give. In the ancient mysteries this was called Q pawns or QpMi(rfJw$. In
imitation of this our bishops are enthroned—the rite is called the enthroning. One of the hymns
of Orpheus is called 0g ovja-jtxoj.
We are in the habit of abusing Octavius and his people for calling him Divus, Augustus, &c.
He was not called father of his country until late in life. I believe this title of father of his
country, or of Aiw rcov aiouttw, was given to him because he was really thought to be the father
of the future age, the Genius of the Ninth Sseculum— the- Cyrus of his day. And if we consider
the happy state of the world during his loftg reign, no man ever lived to whom the title could be
more plausibly given.
I suppose no person can have paid much attention to the European history of the middle ages
without having observed many circumstances relating to its Popes which have not been satisfac-
torily accounted for. Among them stands pre-eminent the Papal claim of supremacy over the
temporal and Germanic imperial authority. The Emperors claimed to be successors of the Roman
Emperors, calling themselves kings of the Romans and Caesars; and if the house of Hapsburg
should ever breed a Napoleon, (a thing not much to be feared,) I have no doubt that the claim
would be instantly renewed to all the dominion ruled by Augustus, To their claims as Imperator
or Embratur,2 the Roman Pontiff acceded, but to nothing more — only as Imperator or Dictator.
To the authority of the Pontifex Maximus of the ancient Romans, the Pope had succeeded) and
that power, in the time of Augustus, had obtained, in fact, the sovereign sway. The triple mitre
or crown of the Pontiff had, to ail intents and purposes, risen above the single crown of the king,
Jesus of Bethlehem, who was foretold by all the Prophets, had come, as Buddha and as Cristna
had come, and had, through the medium of St. Peter, transmitted his authority to the head of the
Catholic or universal church, which was received with dutiful submission by the Great Constantine,
its eldest son. In the person of Octavius Caesar the offices of Pontifex Maximus and Emperor or
Dictator were united, therefore he legally possessed all power. In the person of Constantino,3 by
Mb surrender of part to the Pope, they became divided, and he surrendered that power, which he
only held as delegate, into the hand of its rightful owner, the successor of St. Peter, the head
fisherman (as the Pope called himself) of Galilee. But he claimed to be Pontifex Maximus, not
Pontifex Magnus, which brought the whole world under his sway. The grounds and nature of this
claim, and the general character of the mighty empire which flourished beneath it in a former time,
will be described at large in a future book. The claim of the Popes to supernatural knowledge, is
not in reality so monstrously absurd, as at first it seems to be, if every thing were supposed (as 1
have no doubt it was) to occur in each cycle, as it had done before. As the Supreme Pontiff knew the
' Oreuzei, Liv. v. CL ii, p. 320. * Niebuhr, ed. Walter, Vol. I p 64.
3 Whoso grand equestrian statue stands, as it ought to do, in the poitico of St, Peter'b, guarding the entrance to tin*
temple, but not in the temple— the fiist servant of the living God within.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 3. 57
history of the cycle, he could tell what would happen in any part of it. This was the theory, and
he might easily account for his own ignorance or his knowledge not being equal to that of his pre-
decessors, as saints account for want of power to perform miracles, — his own want of faith or his
own or the general decay of piety. Excuses of this kind are never wanting to devotees. The
Pontifex Maximus carried the crosier, as may be seen on the medals of the high-priest Julius
Caesar, and by law his person was sacred, and his life could be forfeited by no crime* The assas-
sin's dagger was the only resource. l It is perfectly clear that the mitre in ancient Rome had
obtained the supreme power. Fortunately the power of the sword saved the Western world from
the fate of Tibet. It was before observed (Vol. I. pp. 6D1, 692), that when the French possessed
Italy, they examined the chair of St. Peter, and found upon it signs of the Zodiac. There is also
a published account, written by a Roman of eminence before the time of the French invasion,
which states, that the same thing was observed, and much discussed, on the chair being formerly
taken down to be cleaned. The Zodiac had been forgotten, or the chair would not have been again
taken down. This is the chair of St. Peter with its Zodiacal chain, on which the Pope is sup-
posed to sit to rule the empire of his first crown, of the planets, which I named in my last book.
It must not be forgotten that his triple crown is emblematical of his three kingdoms. The illus-
trious Spaniard did not err far \vhen he said, that the life of Jesus was written in the stars.
Irenasus was Bishop of Lyons. He was one of the first fathers of the church who suffered mar-
tyrdom, and generally accounted one of its most eminent and illustiious early writers. He was an
Asiatic, but was sent as bishop to Gaul. He founded or built a church in that country. This
church is yet remaining at Lyons, though in the combe of almost 2000 years no doubt it has
undergone many alterations. On the fioor, in front of the altar, may be seen a Mosaic pavement
of the Zodiac, though a considerable part of it is worn away. This, like the chair of St. Peter, I
have partly discussed before — Vol. L pp. 19, 20, and 690. Persons who do not look deeply into
these matters are easily blinded by being told, that it is the remains of an old temple. But Ire-
nseus had no power to get possession of Roman pagan temples. The pretence is totally void of
foundation. The style of building, its records, &c , all shew that what its priests say is true, viz.
that it was built by Irenaeus. On many other churches, which never were Roman temples, both in
Britain and elsewhere, similar marks of the esoteric religion, which I have partly unfolded, may be
seen. Nothing of this kind is more striking than the Pagan Sibyls seen in many places, particu-
larly surrounding the Casa Santa at Loretto, the mofat sacred of all the shrines of the Mack God —
where, in the affected poverty of a cottage, and amidst gold and diamonds without measure or
number, I saw him sitting enthroned. 2
I entertain a strong suspicion that if we could fairly get at the secret of the Vatican, we should
find it held, that, in ancient times, there were several high-priests or vicars of God upon the earth,
but that they were all united in the person of Jesus of Bethlehem, xvho passed down his power by
St. Peter to the Popes, who inherited his undivided power over the whole world. From their
adoption of the rites of the Roman Pontiff, and of Jesus, of Cyrus and Cristna, and of the Trojan
priests, who, in fact, were the predecessors of those of Rome, I think they were disposed to admit
several branches, all centering in Jesus, or perhaps in the last and lenth, the Popes. This is cor-
rectly the doctrine of the Lama of Tibet. Though the human body of the Lama dies, he is be-
» R. Taylor's Dieg. pp. 141, 142, note.
* The riches of this temple were carried away and dissipated by the priests to prevent the French from getting pos-
session of them, when they overran Italy in the great revolution war. But since the restoration, in this age of light, in
proportion to the time, they have increased faster than ever they did in the age of darkness.
VOL. II. I
58 SEVEN SACRAMENTS. EUCHARIST.
lieved to remove to some new body, not to die. It is with a view to this part of the rnythos that
the pedigrees are so carefully given in the Old and New Testaments, which are called testaments,
because they are witnesses to the legality of this claim. But all this will be explained in a future
book.
4. Having shewn the identity of the ancient and modern Roman Pontifex, I shall proceed to the
celebrated Seven Sacraments of the Romish church, and first to that of the Eucharist.
The first information we have respecting the sacrifice or offering of bread and wine is in Genesis
xiv. 18, 19, " And Mekhixedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine : and he was the priest
of the most high God. And lie blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of [by] the most high God,
possessor of heaven and earth." There seems no doubt that this king and priest was of the religion of
the Persians, of Brahma, of Mithra, and of A brain, as professed at that time. The Mithraitic sacrifice
and the payment of tithes are strong circumstances in favour of this opinion. It is not improba-
ble, if Abram left his country to avoid the abuses and idolatry then beginning to prevail, that he
should have come to dwell where his religion ^as not yet corrupted. We know that the religion
of the Magi did become corrupted j and it was reformed before the time of Cyrus and Daniel by a
man called Zoroaster, or Abraham Zoradust. The Rev. Dr. Miluer, Bishop and Apostolic Vicar,
says, " It was then in offering up a saciifice of bread and wine, instead of slaughtered animals, that
" Melchizeclek's sacrifice differed from the generality of those in the old law, and that he prefigured
" the sacrifice which Christ was to institute in the new law from the same elements. No other
" sense than this can be elicited from the Scripture as to this matter 3 and accordingly the holy
" fathers1 unanimously adhere to this meaning."2
St. Jeroin says, " Melchizedek in typo Christi panem et vinum obtulit : et mysterium Christia-
num in Salvatoris sanguine et corpore dedicavit." 3
It is no little confirmation of this opinion, that we find Jesus Christ in the New Testament re-
presented as a priest after the order of Melchizedek.4 To account for this, divines have been much
puzzled. If it be admitted, (and I think it will be difficult to be denied,) that the religions of
Melchizedek, of Abram, Mithra, and Jesus, were all the same, there will be no difficulty in explain-
ing the passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews respecting Melchizedek. Jesus was correctly a
preacher or priest of this order or religion. The early Christians found the ancient legends, tradi-
tions, and circumstances ; but probably their connexion was as little known to them as to their
successors, the Cyprians, Augustins, &c. However, I cannot well bo told that this connexion
between the bread and wine of Melchizedek and the Christian eucharist is merely the produce of a
fertile imagination, as I am supported, according to Dr. Milner, by the ancient fathers of the
church unanimously.
The temple of Jupiter, without statue, on Mount Carmel, where Pythagoras 5 studied philoso-
phy, was the temple of Melchizedek, as Eupolemus witnesses. °
For a long time violent and even bloody feuds took place among the Christians respecting the
celebration of what we call Easter,— -the festival, in fact, of the goddess Eostre or the Saxon or
Sidonian Asteroth or Astarte.7 In fact, two separate and distinct things as they were then
become, even if they were identical in their origin, were confounded together. These were the
1 St, Cypr. Ep. Ixiii. ; St. August in Ps, xxxiii. ; St. Ohrys. Horn. xxxv. •> St Jeroin, Ep, cxxvi , &c.
a Milner, End Rel. Cont. Let. 40, p 56. 3 Bryant on Philo, p. 275
4 Heb. vii. 1, 10, i 1, 15. * Who was a follower of that religion of which Jesus of Nazareth way.
6 See Vol. I. p. 39, note, pp. 82, 94, 329, 389, 790, 823. 1 Bower> Hist. Popes, pp. 27-37.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 4. 59
Jewish Passover and the sacrifice of bread and wine of Melchizedek ; and, in the early ages of
Christianity, they were still observed by the Persians or the followers of Mithra. The ignorant
devotees found a tradition of Jesus keeping the Passover on the fourteenth day of the moon, of the
first month ; they also found traditions of Jesus being declared to be a priest of the order of Mel-
chizedek. They also found among them, or at least among such of them as derived their descent
from the Gentiles of Mithra, the sacrifice of Bread and Wine or Water. The mystical and figura-
tive expressions attributed to Jesus they construed literally, and thus came the real presence. But
their hatred of the Jews would not permit them to acknowledge it to be the Jewish Passover, and
therefore they changed it from the day on which it ought to have been celebrated— the fourteenth
— to the day on which, by no possibility, it could have taken place, viz. the Sunday afterward —
the supposed day of the resurrection of Jesus. After many centuries, when the Protestants arose,
they seern to have been most exceedingly puzzled to know what to do with this rite j but at last
they settled it as we have it now, excluding the sacrifice, and construing the words attributed to
Jesus litera-figuratively, but keeping it still on the Sunday, the hatred towards the Jews having
at that time suffered no abatement. I have used the compound word litera-figuratively to endea-
vour to express the nonsense of the Protestants, who say, that the words flesh and blood are figu-
rative, but still that, as flesh and blood, they are verily and indeed taken. The straightforward
doctrine of the Romish church may be false and shocking, but it is not, like that of the Protestants,
mere contradictory nonsense. I beg that I may not be accused of speaking irreverently of the
rite itself, for it is, in my opinion, in its primitive simplicity as used by Jesus Christ, without
exception the most beautiful religious ceremony ever established in the woild.
The whole of the ancient Gentile and Druidical ceremonies of Easter or the Saxon Goddess
mswy Ostrt, or Eostre of the Germans, is yet continued over all the Christian world.1 This
festival began with a week's indulgence in all kinds of sports, called the carne-vale, or the taking
a farewell to animal food, because it was followed by a fast of forty days. An account of this, of
Shrovetide, of Ash Wednesday, &c., &e., may be found in Cleland's Specimens;2 but his expla-
nation is not very satisfactory, and he is in several instances mistaken. But I suspect in those
countries where the God was feigned to be cut in pieces, as Bacchus on Mont Martre, and Osiris
in Egypt, and the limbs scattered about, the forty days were the days passed by Isis or the
Maenades in mourning for them and in searching after them. 3 Amidst the great mass of other
matters in which the identity of the rites and ceremonies of the Gentiles and of the Christians are
shewn, the explanation of the origin of this rite is not very material, and I have not taken much
pains about it. But its existence over all the North of Europe long before the time of Christ
cannot be disputed.
The celebration of the Eucharist by the followers of Mani, and by some other of the early sects,
affords a striking trait of identity between the religion or gospel of the Persians or the Magi, and
that of Jesus. Certainly, the nonsense which devotees will talk, or which devotees will believe, is
almost incredible. But yet it is quite incomprehensible to me how any set of persons or sect (if
they were immediate, or in a direct line, descendants from Jesus Christ, and if the account in the
gospel histories be true) can admit the institution of the Lord's Supper, and take the cup with
water, instead of wine, the nature of the liquid being considered not a trifle or of little consequence,
1 See Bochart, Vol. L p. 676; Anc, Univers, Hist., Vol. XIX, p. 177$ Parkhurst, in voce. * P- 89.
3 I suspect the first part only of Lent was devoted to mourning, the last three days oixly being- spent in the search,
when long processions took pkce, and ended with finding the whole God on Easter Sunday, or on the fourteenth day.
In all the churches in Italy, during these forty days, the icons of the Virgin are covered with a black crape veil
i2
60 SBVKN SACRAMENTS KCCHARI&T.
but a matter of the first importance. How is it possible for any sophistry about abstemiousness
to persuade a person above the rank of an idiot, that after Jesus had taken the cup with wine as
described in our gospel histories, the rite ought to be celebrated by his followers, not with wine,
but with water, as was the case with the Manichasans, the Eiicratitea, Nestorians, and others > 1
The real state of the case I apprehend to be this : Christians in different countries found various
accounts and practices with respect to this matter. The Judaizing Christians considering it a
species of passover (Christ is called the Passover of the Christians 2 ) or paschal supper, naturally
described the cup to contain wine, after the manner of the Jews in their passover 5 and we, who
adopt their gospels, take it with wine. On the contrary, the Manichseans and many of the other
Eastern sects, who, in fact, had their gospel directly and immediately from the Persian Magi, took
this rite with water instead of wine. The cucharist of the Lord and Saviour, as the Magi called
the Sun, the second person in their Trinity, or their euchaiistic sacrifice, was always made exactly
and in every respect the same as that of the orthodox Christians, except that the latter use wine
instead of water. This bread-and- water sacrifice was offered by the Magi of Persia, by the Essenes
or Therapeutae, by the Gnostics, and, indeed, by almost if not quite all the Eastern Christians,
and by Pythagoias in Greece and Numa at Rome.
The Ebionites or Nazarenes were unquestionably the most immediate and direct followers ot
Jesus. They were resident in Judea; they aic acknowledged to have been among the very earliest
of the sects of Christians. As uncertain as tradition is, it is difficult to believe that, in less than
one hundred years after the death of Christ, they should not have retained a correct tradition of
this rite, if they had really received it from him, and if there had been any certainty on the subject.
They are described as a very low, poor, ignorant race of people. They are said to have had a
written gospel. Some persons have supposed the gospel of Matthew to have been theirs. But I
think the very circumstance of their having used water instead of wine is sufficient to prove that
this cannot be true.— All these circumstances afford traces of the existence of this rite among the
Persians long before the man Jesus of Jtidea is said to have lived. — The moderns have not known
what to make of the rite. In the service of our Edward the Sixth, water is directed to be mixed
with the wine. This is an union of the two ; not a half measure, but a double one. If it be cor-
rect to take it with wine, then they were right; if with water, they still were right \ as they took
both, they could not be wrong. 3
The Persians had a rite called the festival of Saka, Sakea, or Sakia, which M. Beausobre has
shewn was probably the Manicheean Eucharist or Love Feast. He observes, 4 that Cyril in calling-
it Ischas has probably meant to travesty the woik Saka. Ischas or Ischa was the name of both
Sarah the wife of Abraham and of Jesus.5 Most likely it merely means the Saviour ; but it pretty
nearly identifies the name of Jesus with that of Buddha. To the word Saka and its origin or cor-
ruptions, I shall return by and by.
According to Justin's account, the devils busied themselves much with the Eucharist. After
describing in several places that bread and wine and water were used in the Christian rite, he says,
" And this very solemnity too the evil spirits have introduced into the mysteries of Mithra m, for
" you do or may know, that when any one is initiated into this religion, bread and a cup of water,
" with a certain form of words, are made use of in the sacrifice."6
J Clemens Alex, and Epiphanius j Dupuis, Vol III pp 85, 325, 4io. 3 1 Cor. v. 7,
s Dr. Grabe's notes upon Iienaeus, Lib. v. Cap ii. * Liv. ix. Ch, viii. p. 729.
4 See Vol. I pp 583,747,836.
6 See Reeves's Justin, and notes on Sect. Ixxxvi. The followers of Tatian used no wine, only water, in the Eucha-
rist. Mosh. Hist., Cent. 2, Ch. v. S. ix. ; see also Cent, 2, Ch, iv. S. xii.
BOOK II. CHAPTER J. SECTION 4. 61
Hyde says, " DeTinctione, cle oblatione panis, et de imagine resurrectionis, videatur doctiss. de
laCerda ad ea Tertulliani loca ubi de hisce rebus agitur. Gentiles citra Christum, talia celebrabant
Mithriaca quse videbantur cum doctrin& eucharistice et resurrectionis et aliis ritibus Christianis
con venire, quae fecerunt ex Industrie ad imitationem Christianis mi : unde Tert. et Patres aiunt eos
talia fecisse, duce diabolo, quo vult esse simia Christi, &c. Volunt itaque eos res suas ita compa-
r&sse, ut Mithra mysteria essent eucharisticB Christiana imago. Sic Just. Martyr, p. 98, et Tertul-
lianus et Chrysostomus, In suis etiam sacris habebant Mithriaci lavacra (quasi regenerationis)
in quibus tingit et ipse (sc. sacerdos) quosdam utique credentes et ndeles suos, et expiatoria
delictorum de lavacro repromittit, et sic adhuc initiat Mithrse."1 From a quotation of Gorius, it
seems the modern as well as the ancient fathers have recourse to the very satisfactory agency of
the devil, to account for these things.
Our catechism says, that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained for the continual
remembrance of the SACRIFICE of the death of Christ ; and, that the outward part or sign of the
Lord's Supper is bread and wine. It then goes on to say, that the inward part or thing signified
is the body and Mood of Christ (thing signified !), which are verily and indeed taken, and received
by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. It then concludes by saying, that the souls of those who
partake of this sacrament are to be refreshed by the body and blood of Christ, as their boclie& are
by the bread and wine.
A very learned and ingenious clergyman of the Church of England, Mr. Glover, a has said, " In
" the sacrament of the altar is the natural body and blood of Christ vere et realiter, verily and
" indeed, if you take these terms for spiritually by grace and efficacy ; but if you mean really and
" indeed, so that thereby you would include a lively and moveable body under the form of bread
w and wine, then in that sense is not Christ's body in the sacrament really and indeed/' And thus
he sophistically explains away the two plain words ver§ and realiter. How is it possible, without
the grossest abuse of language, to make the words verily and indeed mean spiritually by grace and
efficacy ? However, his ingenious sophistry does not affect my argument, as all I undertake is, to
shew that this rite is more ancient than Christianity— and this, cannot be disputed,
When the reader has duly considered all the other circumstances which I have brought together
respecting the religions or doctrines of Mithra, the Esseneans, Pythagoreans, Jesus, &c., he will
not deny the strong probability that the sacrifice of the Mass, or of bread and wine, as is asserted
by the Romish Apostolic Vicar,3 Dr. Milner, has descended even from the remote time of
Abraham.
The Mass of the Romish Church is of the very first importance in their religion. The word
Mass, it has been said, is taken from the ceremonies of Isis, in which, after the ceremonies and
the other mysteries were ended, the people were dismissed, by the Greeks, with the words
Aao*£ a$ecn$, which mean, the people may retire; that the Romans, in the same ceremonies,
used the words Ite, Mis&io est; (see Apuleius de Missio;) and, that the Missio, by corruption, has
become Messe or Mass* 4 This is very unsatisfactory. I believe the meaning of the Mess or
Mass is nothing but the Latin name for corn or bread, and that to the expression Ite, Missio est,
a word for finished was originally added or is understood, or has been by degrees dropped. s Of
1 De Bel. Vet. Pers. Cap iv. p. J 13. « Remarks on Marsh's Comp. View, p. 102.
*» The Vicars Apostolic, I understand, receive episcopal ordination, but have more power than ordinary bishops.
Dr Alexander Geddes, whom I have often quoted, sustained the same rank*
4 ApuL Lib. xvf, de Asino aureo \ Pol. Virg. Cap. xii.
* In Yorkshire, on the festival of St. Thomas, wheat is given to the poor, and it is eaten not ground, but boiled
whole, called/H4m<mty. This is the sacrifice of the Messis or Mass.
62 SEVEN SACRAMENTS. EUCHARIST.
the descent of the Mass, or the sacrifice of bread and wine, from Melchizedek, I have had frequent
opportunities of speaking.1 And I have shewn that this sacrifice was common to many ancient
nations. M. Marolles, in his Memoirs, 2 quotes Tibullus, in the fourth elegy of his third book,
where he says that the Pagans appease the Divinity with holy bread — Fane pio placant ; that
Virgil, in the fifth book of the JSneid, says, they rendered honours to Vesta, with holy bread,
Farre pio et pUnb suppler veneratur acerrti. — Lines 744, 745.
He adds, that the words of Horace, Farre pio et saliente mica, relate to the same thing, and that
Tibullus, in the panegyric to Messala, wrote that a little cake or a little morsel of bread appeased
the Divinities. Parvaque ccelestes pacavit mica. As I have before repeatedly observed, the sacri-
fice without blood was ordered by Numa Pompilius, and practised by Pythagoras. It may be
remarked, in passing, that the term to immolate, which is used for sacrifice, may come from the
Latin word mola, which was the name that the Pagans gave to the little round bits of bread which
they offered to their Gods in this sacrifice. The Mass is also called the Host. This word means
a host, a giver of hospitality, and also an enemy, and the host of heaven, and is the name of the
harbour of the city of Saturn-ja or Valencia or Roma, Ostia.
The Romans celebrated, on the 22nd of February, the feast of Charisties or Caristies or Charis-
tia. From the character of this festival, I have a strong suspicion that the name was a corruption
of the ancient Chrest, Xprjg and E^o>£, Creuzer 3 says, " This was a family or domestic feast,
" which the Roman religion exhibits in its aspect most moral and amiable. It followed several
*c days of mourning for departed friends. The oldest of the family, he who first in the order of
" nature would go to increase the number of those who were already gone, reunited all its mem-
" bers at a feast of love and harmony \ when the object was to reconcile all differences among the
" members of it." As M. Creuzer observes, w it shews beautifully that the ancients did not
" separate the contemplation of the future from present joys. The day was sacred to Concord
" and the Lares, and finished the old and began the new year." And it must be acknowledged
that nothing more beautiful could well be imagined. — From this Charisties comes our Charity and
Caritas, not exclusively in the sense of giving to the poor, but in that of brotherly love as used by
Paul, And here we have among the oldest of the ceremonies of Italy, the Eucharist or ev%apisru*
of the Christians.
Valerius JVlaximus 4 says, "Convivium etiam solenne majores instituerant : idque C/iaristia appel-
" laverunt, cui prater cognatos et affines, nemo interponebatur : ut si qua inter necessarios querela
u esset orta, apud sacra rnensae, et inter hilaritatem animorum, favoribus concordiae adhibitis, tolle-
" retur." 5 Cleland shews that this festival was in use, as we might expect, among the Celts and
Druids.6
This festival in Hebrew was called taip jww, a feast, communion.7 From this comes our
communion.
Similar to the Italian Charistia was the beautiful and simple rite of the Jews, of breaking bread
and drinking with one another at their great festivals, in fact of celebrating the sacrifice of bread
1 See Vol. I. pp. 718, 725, 823. * P. 2i5. 5 Livre dnqirifeme, CU. iii, p. 456.
4 Lib. ii. Cap i, Sect. 8.
5 That bloody sacrifices were not used in tlie earliest times is an opinion supported by Sophocles ; Pausanias, de
Cerere Phrygialeusi , by Plato, de Legibus, Lib. vi. j and by Erapeclocles, Lib. de Antiq, Temp,
6 Spec. Etymol. Vocab, p. 111. * Vail. Coll. Hib. Vol. V. p. 224.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 4. 63
and wine so appropriate to Jesus, the priest of the order of Melchizedek, which was converted in
a later day into a horrible mystery. When a Jew has broken the bread and partaken of the cup
with his fellow, it is considered that a peculiar and brotherly affection is to subsist between them
for the next year ; and, if there had been any previous enmity, this ceremony is considered
the outward sign (of an inward, spiritual grace), that it no longer exists. In all Jewish families,
after their paschal supper, the bread is always broken, and the grace-cup is tasted and sent round
by the master of the house. It is described as one of the last actions of Jesus, when he had
reason to believe that his enemies would proceed to violence against him, and is in strict keeping
with what I am convinced was the beautiful simplicity of every part of his character and life. The
reader will please to observe that when I speak thus of Jesus Christ, I give no credit to the im-
proper conduct ascribed to him, or to the fact of his having taught the immoral doctrines ascribed
to him in the gospel histories l of the different sects of his followers, so inconsistent with his gene-
ral character.
Jesus is made to say, " This is my flesh/' " This is my blood.3' If we take these words to
the letter, they were evidently not true. The articles spoken of were neither his flesh nor his
blood. Then it is surely only consistent with candour to inquire what meaning could be given to
them, agreeable to common sense and the meaning of this, at that time, ancient ceremony. This,
I think, will be found in the fact which we all know, that he abolished among his followers the
shocking and disgusting practice, at that time common, of offering sacrifices of flesh and blood, so
well described by the Rev. Mr. Faber, and at that time still practised upon grand occasions among
the Druids or Chaldees, and Romans, even to the length of offering human victims. — It seems not
unlikely that we have only part of the speech of Jesus, that its object was the abolition of that
disgusting and atrocious practice, and that his speech had reference to it. Speaking as he did, or
is said to have done, always in parables, he might readily use the figurative expression in reference
to something which had passed before against bloody sacrifices : and at that time he might use
the words, This is my bodys and this is my bloody which I offer; i. e. This is my offering of body
(or flesjh) and blood, and no other. It was the offering of Melchizedek and of Pythagoras, his
predecessors, and, probably, originally of all nations, * The bread was always broken, and is yet
broken, in the ceremony, and given as a token of remembrance, precisely as he used it. Eat this
in remembrance of me. How could any words be more natural ? This agrees very well with what
he is made to say in the Gospel of the Nazarenes : " I came to abolish sacrifices, and unless ye
" cease to offer sacrifices, the wrath of God shall not cease from you."2
The whole paschal supper was a festival of joy and gladness, to celebrate the passage of the
sun ; and, after the family had eaten, the remainder was given to the poor, along with such other
matters as the elect or chapter could spare 5 for I apprehend the XOWDWO*, or community of goods,
was confined at first to the lodge, to the seventy-two j and perhaps the Eucharist was at first
taken by only the twelve elect or perfect in the mysteries. The probability of these matters must
be left to the reader. The evidence is not very clear, though the probability is strong. This
seems to me to be a rational explanation of the words, and is consistent with the general character
of Jesus — the character of the priest after the order of Melchizedek. It dovetails well into the
historical fact of no sacrifice of animals having ever taken place in his religion, and with the Gen-
tile histories. And when he was founding his religion on the Mosaic system, there does seem
1 Probably some of the spurious gospels; for, happily, on the testimony of the canonical Gospels— uticontradicted by
respectable profane history — even ytnbellewn have concurred with the Author in paying a tribute of respect to " the
*' beautiful simplicity of every part of the character and life" of JESUS CHRIST. Editor.
* J. Jones on Can-on, Pt. II. Chap, xxv. Art. 12, p. 275.
64 BAPTISM.
to require an explanation of the reason why the ordained sacrifices were abolished. Here we see
the reason why the Melchizedekian sacrifice was restored, or declared to be enough, without
holocausts or even paitial burnt- offerings.
Besides the Chariatia of the Romans, as above described, there must have been some other
ceremony very similar, or some sectaries must have held opinions from which the modern Romibh
priests have copied their Transubstantiation, as we find the doctrine alluded to by Cicero. The
Rev. R. Taylor, in his answer to Dr. Pye Smith, l says, " There is a passage in Cicero, written
" forty years before the birth of Christ, in \\ hich he ridicules the doctrine of transubstantiation,
" and asks, how a man can be so stupid as to imagine that which he eats to be a God ? Ut illud
" quo vescatur Deuin esse pntet >"
The ancients always washed before they sacrificed, says Eustache upon Homer;2 and Hesiod
forbids any wine to be offered to Jupiter with unwashed hands.3 And Virgil tells us, that ^Eneas,
even though the city was on fire, durst not touch the Gods to save them, till he had first washed
his hands. In the ritual of the Romish church it is said, Sacerdos sanctam eucharistiam adminis-
tratuTus procedat ad altare lotis prius manibus.
It was the custom of the Pagan priests to confess before they sacrificed, demanding pardon of
the Gods and Goddesses. Numa ordered this to be observed by the Romans, not esteeming the
sacrifice good, unless the priest had first cleared his conscience by confession. The Romish priests
are expected to do this before they celebrate the Mass.4
Numa oidaincd that the priest who made the sacrifice should be clothed in white, in the habit
called an alba.5 This is the alb which he carries who celebrates the Mass. Above the alb, Numa
ordered the sacrificer to carry a coloured robe, with a pectoral or breast-plate of brass, which is
now often changed into gold or silver. This is what is called chasuble. The priests use also a
veil, with which they cover the head, called amict. Ail these ornaments were introduced by Numa.
They are also most of them found among the Jews.
The turnings and genuflexions of the priests, and their circular processions, were all ordered by
Numa.6 The last were also the Deisuls of the Druids. ^Du Cboul has shewn, 7 that the custom
of having the Mass in the morning was taken from the Egyptians, who divided the time, like the
Romish church, into prime, tierce, and sexte.
The Pagans had music in their temples, as the Romish devotees have in their churches. Galiea
sajb, they have no sacrifice without music.8 I shall add no more on this subject here, but I shall
resume it in a future Book. I shall then try to penetrate to the bottom of this, which I am per-
suaded is one of the most profaned of the mysteries.
5. The next rite which I shall notice is that of Baptism.
That the ceremony of baptism is older than the time of Jesus is evident from the Gospels 5 ° but
1 P 1 H. ' In II. i. 3 Hist Operum et Dior. * Du Ghoul, p. 2?0
* Alex ab Alex Lib. iv. Cap. xvii, « Du Choul, p. 275 ; and Pol, Virg Lib. i. 5, Cap. xi. i P. 309.
8 Gal Lib. xvii. deOff ; Scaliger, Lib. i Poet, Cap, xHv. j Strabo, Lib. x. s Arnob. Lib vii.
y The Author makes no lefeience in proof of this assertion; and, whatever may have been the practice of the follow-
ers of Zoroaster or otbeis, there i* no saifcfdotoiy evidence detlucible fioni either the Old Testament or the Gospels,
that Baptism was practised by the Jews prior to the ministry of the Baptist, The Author, however, like many other
wnteis, both Advocates and Opponents of baptism, probably ovei looked the diffeience between #»ir7«r/A« (washings.,
avto or ^-cleansing &) and /W/<r,«a, which is never used in the N T in the plural; 01, perhaps, he recollected the
question of the Priests and Levites to John, " Why baptizest thou then, if," &c. ? (John i 25.) On which it ma\
be remarked, that the pi ououn thott, which is often regaided as emphatically contrasting John with otheis who had
previously baptized, is not emphatically expressed in the onginal. It is simply, T< ey favltfys; not TJ BV fl
St; : Editor.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I, SECTION 5. 65
how much older it may be, it is impossible to ascertain. It was a practice of the followers of
Zoroaster.1 Hyde says, " Pro infantibus non utuntur circumcision e, sed tantum baptismo seu
" lotione ad animce purifieationern internam. Infantem ad sacerdotem in ecciesiam adductum
" sistunt coram sole et igne, qu& facta ceremonia, eundem sanctiorem existimant D« Lord dicit
" quod aquam ad hoc afferunt in cortice arboris Holm : ea autera arbor revera est Haum Magorum,
<c cujus mentionem ali£ occasione supra fecimus. Alias, aliquando fit immergendo in magnum vas
" aquae, ut dicit Tavernier. Post talem lotionem seu baptismum, sacerdos imponit nomen a
" parentibus inditum." After this Hyde goes on to state, that when he comes to be fifteen years
of age he is confirmed by receiving the girdle, and the sudra or cassock.
The Holm or Haum here spoken of by Hyde, is the Phoenix or Phoiuix or Palm-tree, called by
Burckhardt and Buckingham, in their Travels in Asia, the Dom-tree — the tree of the sacred OM.2
" De-la vint, que pour devenir capable d'entendre les secrets de la creation, r£v61es dans ces
" monies rnysteres, il fallut se faire rege'ne'rer par ^initiation. Cette cer£moniea par laquelle, on
6f apprenoit les vrais prindpes de la vie, s'operoit par le moyen de feau qui avoit e*t£ celui de la
" regeneration du monde. On conduisoit sur les bords de 1'Ilissus le candidat qui devoit £tre
" initie -9 apr£s 1'avoir purifie avec le sel et 1'eau de la mer, on repandoit de 1'orge sur lui, ou le
<ff couronoit de fleurs, et CHydranos ou le Baptiseur le plongeoit dans le fleuve. I/ usage de ce
" Baptdme par immersion, qui subsista dans TOccident jusqu' au 8e siecle, se maintient encore
" dans 1'Eglise Greque : c'est celui que Jean le Pr&urseur administra, dans le Jourdain, £ Jesus-
" Christ meme. II fut pratiqu6 chez les Juifs,3 chez les Grecs, et chez presque tous les peuples,
" bien des siecles avant 1' existence de la religion Chretienne : c'est encore une de ces anciennes
(C ceremonies que Dieu sanctifta pour le bien des homines. On vient de voir qu'elle en fut
" I1 origin e, dans les terns qui prec£derent celui ou le Bapteme devint un Sacrement. Les Indians
" continuent a se purifier dans les eaux du Gange, qu'ils regardent comme sacres."4
M. Beansobre has clearly proved that the Manichaeans had the rite of Baptism, both for infants
and adults, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He has satisfactorily proved the
falsity of St. Augustine upon this point; but, indeed, nothing which Augustine says against the
sect whom he deserted and betrayed, is worthy of any credit whatever. M. Beausobre 5 says,
" Mani had more than one reason for administering baptism to infants. This custom not only
<c served to confirm his opinion, that corruption is in nature, and comes to man by nature, but in
" this he conformed to the custom of the Magi,/rom which he deviated as little as he possibly could.
^ This was the way to give them a taste for his religion. The ancient Persians carried their
** infants to the temple a few days after they were born, and presented them to the priest before
" the sun, and before the fire, which was his symbol. Then the priest took the child and baptized
" it for the purification of the soul. Sometimes he plunged it into a great vase full of water : it
(e was in the same ceremony that the father gave a name to the child. When the child had arrived
" at fifteen years of age, he was presented again to the priest, who confirmed him by giving him
" the robe called the Sudra and the Girdle. These were the symbols or the sacraments of the
*c promises that he made to God to serve him according to the religion of the Persians." The
reader sees that Mani is said to have deviated as little as possible from the rites of the Magi.
This is true enough. In fact, the Evangelion of Zoroaster, of the Romish Jesus, and of Mani,
were all precisely the same in punciple, and very nearly the same in all their ceremonies. The
1 Hyde de ReL Vet. Pers. Cap. xxxiv. p. 406. * See Vol. I. p. 742, note, s See Editor's note ut sup.
* D'Anc. Res. Vol. I. p. 292. 5 Liv. ix, Ch. vi.Sect. xvi,
VOL. II. K
66 BAPTISM.
variation was not more than might he expected to arise, from distance in situation, in time, and
from difference of languages and nations.
Dr. Hyde says, l " Et postea anno aetatis xv°, quando incipit induere tunicam, sudra, et cin-
" gulum, ut religionem ingrediatur, et iile in articulis fidei versatur, a sacerdote ei datur confirma-
" tio, utj ab eo tempore, inter numerum fidelium admittatur, et fidelis esse reputetur." If this
account of Dr. Hyde's be correct, which I believe no one ever doubted, it is impossible for any
person to be so blind as not to see, that these three extremely important and vital ceremonies of
the Christian religion — Baptism, Christening, and Confirmation — were nothing but rites of the
religion of the Magi, of Mithra, or of the sun.
Upon this subject Justin says,2 in Section Ixxxi., "The devils 110 sooner heard of this baptism
" spoken of by the prophet, but they too set up their baptisms, and made such as go to their tern-
" pies and officiate in their libations and meat offerings, first sprinkle themselves with water by
a way of lustration $ and they have brought it to such a pass, that the worshipers are washed from
" head to foot before they approach the sacred place where their images are kept." On the above
the Rev. Mr. Reeves makes the following note : " That such mock baptisms were set up by the
" contrivance of the Devil in the Gentile world, we find not only asserted by Justin, but all the
" primitive writers, and particularly by Tertullian, de baptismo. Certe ludis Apollinaribus et
" Eleusiniis tinguntur, idque se in regenerationein et impunitatem perjuriorum suorum agere
" praesumunt. Thus were men initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis, and he who initiated them
" was called 'Yfyavo$, the waterer, '¥fy>avo$ 6 aywpjs no? EXsuermaw.3 Thus again we learn
" from Tertullian, that they initiated men into the rites of I sis and Mithra, Nam et sacris quibus-
" dam per lavacrum initiantur Isidis alicujus aut Mithrae, 4 the chief priest of that Goddess, (as
** Apuleius describes his own initiation,) fi leading the party to be initiated to the next bath 5
<€ where, having first delivered him to the usual washing, and asked pardon of the Goddess, he
" sprinkled him all about, and bringing him back to the temple, after two parts of the day were
" spent, placed him before the feet of the Goddess/*
Mosheim shews, by many sound and ingenious arguments, that the rite of baptism was an old
ceremony of the Israelites long before the time of Christ. 6
After baptism they received the sign of the cross, were anointed, and fed with milk and honey. y
Dr. Enfield asserts, that baptism xvas not used by the Jews, but only by the Samaritans. 8 If
this be true, (but I know no authority for it,) it instantly makes a Samaritan of Jesus Christ, I
do not think the Doctor would have liked this.
John the Baptist was nothing but one of the followers of Mithra, with whom the deserts of Syria
and the Thebais of Egypt, abounded, under the name of Essenes. He was a Nazarite 3 and it is a
curious and striking circumstance that the fountain of JBnon, where he baptized, ° was sacred to
the sun. Though he be said to have baptized Jesus, yet it is very remarkable that he established
a religion of his own, as is evident from the meu'who came to Ephesus, and were there converted
from his religion to Christianity by St. Paul.10 This religion is not extinct, but continues in some
parts of Asia, as we have formerly noticed, under the names of Mundaites, Nazoreens, Nazourcans,
or Christians of St. John. ll
1 De Rel. Vet. Pers, Cap. xxxiv. p. 406. * See his Apology, Sect. Ixxxvii. xcvii. xeviii, ci. » Hesych.
* De Bapt. Cap. v. * Milesi, ii. citat. a Seldeao de Success, ad Leg. Haebr. Cap. xxvi,
6 Com. Cent L Sect, vi. 7 Mosh. Hist. Cent. II. Ciu iv. Sec. 13, See Dtipuis, sur tous les Cultes, Vol. III. p. 325,
• Hist, Phil Vol. II. p. 164. J» John iiL 23. 10 Acts xix. 1—7. " Vol. I, pp. 540, 657, 808.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 6, &J
Michaelis1 states it to be his opinion, that these men, lohnists as they are now called, were
Essenes. In my article on the Essenes this is proved clearly enough. I have no doubt that John
was an Essene, as well as Jesus,
Matthew (iii. 11) makes John say, w I, indeed, baptize you with water; he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,"
" I, indeed, have baptized you with water 5 but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."—
Mark i. 8.
" John answered, saying, I, indeed, baptize you with water $ but, he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire''— Luke iii. 16.
In some parts of Scotland it is a custom at the baptism of children to swing them in their
clothes over a fire three times, saying. Now, jire, bum this child or never. Here is evidently the
baptism byfre. When the priest bio wed upon the child in baptizing it, in my presence, in the
baptistery at Florence, was this to blow away the devils according to the vulgar opinion, or was it
the baptism by air— Spiritus Sanctus ? Priests profess to communicate the spiritus sanctus* The
baptism by fire and water was in use by the Romans- It was performed by jumping three times
through the flame of a sacred fire, and being sprinkled with water from a branch of laurel. Ovid
says,8
Certe ego transilui positas ter in ordine flammas,
This is still practised in India.4 " From old Grecian authorities we learn, that the Massagetae
u worshiped the sun ; and the narrative of an embassy from Justin to the Khakan, or Emperor,
" who then resided in a fine vale near the source of the Irtish, mentions the Tartarian ceremony
" of purifying the Roman ambassadors by conducting them between two fires.5* Jones on the
Language of the Tartars.6
The Etruscans baptized with air, with ftrey and with water; this is what is alluded to many
times in the Gospels.6 If the words Ghost, spiritus in Latin, 7rvet>/x,a in Greek, and nn ruh, in
Hebrew, be examined, they will all at last be found to resolve themselves into the idea of air or
breath — which gave the first idea of the soul of man. Thus we say, the breath departed from a
man, or his soul left him — he gave up the ghost, spiritus. This may give a low or mean idea of
the state of science \ but I have no doubt that in its infancy the breath of man was supposed to be
his soul. When it was the breath of God, of course it was the holy ghost or spirit This is per-
fectly in keeping with the materialism, the anthropomorphism of the letter of Genesis, of Moses,
and of all other nations* When Jesus communicated the Holy Ghost, he breathed on his dis-
ciples.
In plates 172, 173, 174, &c., Gorius gives examples of the baptism of the ancient Etruscans, in
the rites of Mithra or Isis, by water, air, fire, and blood. The ancient Etruscans were thought by
many to be a colony which escaped from Egypt when the shepherd kings conquered that country.
The identity of the worship of ancient Etruria and Egypt makes this not unlikely.
6. In Tab. clxxii. Gorius gives two pictures of ancient Etruscan baptisms by water. In the first,
1 Marsh's Mich. Vol. VI. Oh. xv. § iv. pp. 82, 8?.
* See Protestant Ordination Service, [and the Petition (to the House of Lords, August 5, 1833) of the Rev. Charles
N. Wodehouse, Prebendary of Norwich, for an alteration of this and other parts of the Liturgy. Editor^
3 Fasti, Lib. iv. ver. 727- 4 Vide Maurice's Ind. Ant. Vol. V. p. 1075.
9 Asiat Res. VoL II. p. 31, 4to, 6 See the references ut supra.
K2
68 BAPTISM.
the youth is held in the arms of one priest and another is pouring water upon his head. In the
second, the young person is going through the same ceremony, kneeling on a kind of altar.
Gorius says, "Solemnem apud Etruscos baptisrnatis traditionem per manus sacerdotis, aliis sacrjs
" ministris adstantibus, additis modulationibus, precibus et carminibus, ceterisque ceremoniis,
" quas mox indicabo, nemo alius certe, quara diabolus, nequissimus humani generis hostis, exco-
" gitavit docuitque : qui, nt insanas gentes, divinae lucis expertes, in sui servititim et obedientiam
" miserandum in modum captivaret, lustrandi complura genera, aere, aqu&, igne, sanguine, alias-
" que februationes monstravit, ut Deum divinse legis conditorem sapientissimum aemularetur.
" Caliidissimas ejus artes ita aperit Tertullianus.1 Diabolus ipsas quoque res sacramentorum, in
" idolomm mysteriis temulatur, tingidt et ipse quosdam, utique credentes et fideles suos, expiationem
** de LAVACRO repromittit, et sic adhuc initiat Mithras : signat ille in frontibus milites suos : celebrat
" et panis oblationem^ et imaginem resurrectionis inducit, et sub gladio rediinit coronam, Quid ®
" quod et summum pontificem in unis nuptiis statuit? habet et virgines, habet continentes. Ceterum
" si Nnmte Powpilii superstitiones revolvamus, si sacerdotii officia et privilegia, si sacrificalia minis-
" teiia et instrunienta et vasa ilia sacrificiorum et piaculorum, et votorum curiositates consideremus
" nonne manifeste Diabolus morositatem legis Mosaics imitatus est $ Addo etiam, Etruscos, com-
" pluribus seculis ante Numam Pompilium, non solum in usu habuisse BAPTISMA, verum etiam
" sacram %eipQTQViu,v, nam Etruscas Antistitae manus imponunt iis, quos iuitiant, ut alibi osten-
" dam, adlato Etruscae vrnae anaglypho opere. Constat enim, initiatos complura probationum
" genera experiri debuisse, antequam sacris Deorum, ac praBsertim MITEIR-E, admitterentur qua?,
te mox considerabitnus."
The following are copies of the two Etruscan inscriptions on the monuments above alluded to :
In the middle of the second, a letter seems to be wanting.
These Etruscan monuments would have been ascribed to the ancient Christians if the Etruscan
inscriptions had not rendered this impossible. In this manner I have no doubt whatever, that
great numbers of Gentile monuments of antiquity have been adopted by modern Christians.
From these ancient Etruscan monuments it is evident, that the practice of baptism was common
long before the birth of John or Jesus, in the ceremonies of Isis, of Mithra, and of the Eleusiniau
mjsteries; and from the passage in Tertullian,3 it is evident, that it was not merely a similar
ceremony of washing. The words regenerationem et impunitatem perjuriorutn suorum (the actual
word regeneratio used in our order of baptism) prove, that the doctrines as well as the outward
forms were identically the same. It appears also from the former part of the quotation, that the
practice of sprinkling with holy water, both by the Greek and Romish churchs, was used by the
Etruscans, and was only a continuation of their ceremony. On the festival of All Souls, at Florence,
the monks went round their cloisters and monasteries, in the presence of the author, sprinkling
1 DC Piaescript. adv. Hseret Cap xl.
* The ceremony of baptism was moitly accompanied with the sacrifice of 0raw/atul wine.
3 De Bapt. Cap v quoted in p 66.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 8. 69
the walls, &c., &c., with holy water, as described by Tertullian to be the practice of the ancient
followers of Mithra.
Apuleius also shews, as above stated, that baptism was used in the mysteries of Isis. He says,
" Sacerdos, stipatum mereligiosa cohorte, deducit ad proximas balneas: et prius SUETO LAVACRO
" tradituni, praefatus deum vemam, purissimfc CIRCUMRORANS abluit."
Mr. Maurice shews that purgations or lustrations by water, and holy water, were equally used
by the Jews, Persians, Hindoos, and Druids of Britain, l Potter, in his Antiquities, proves that
every ancient temple had a vase, filled with holy water. This was called a Piscina, and was
probably the Bowli of India, noticed in my first volume. 2
The child is taken to the priest, and is named by him and blessed, &c., before the sacred fire,
being sprinkled with holy water, which is put into the bark of a sacred tree called Holme. 3
7. The giving of a name to the child (as indicated by the parents to the priest), the marking of
him with the cross as a sign of his being a soldier of Christ, followed at fifteen years of age by his
admission into the mysteries by the ceremony of confirmation, or the sacred ;£e;porowa, or impo-
sition of hands, the same as in our ceremonies, prove that the two institutions are identical. But
the most striking circumstance of all is the regeneration— and consequent forgiveness of sins —
the being born again. This shews that our baptism in doctrine as well as in outward ceremony,
was precisely that of the ancient Etruscans. The ^e/porov/a is evidently the same ceremony as
the admission of our priests into orders, as well as the ceremony of confirmation or admission to
church membership. In each case, by the p^s/porowot, a portion of the Holy Spirit is supposed
to be transferred from the priest to the candidate. I beg my reader carefully to read our baptismal
service. This ^s/porovia is the baptism by the Holy Ghost, Christian Baptism was called
AsTjpov -sraTuyyjvjWJOts, the laver of regeneration, 4 and ^WHCT/AOI/, illumination.
It is a cuiioub circumstance that not one word can be produced from the New Testament in
support of infant baptism ; every thing adduced in its favour from that authority being a violent
and forced implication. Bellarmine is obliged to admit, that infant baptism is contained in Scrip-
ture " in universal?9 though not " in particulars " 5 This is an excellent example of a modern
tradition — that is, of a tradition set up since the writing of the gospel histories — a doctrine, a
sacrament, forgotten by the Evangelists and the authors of the Epistles, but discovered since, by
their more enlightened followers !
8. I must now notice a branch of the Christian baptism of exquisite beauty* I must confess
that my favourite Pagans, as they will be called, can produce nothing equal to it. And this is
the baptism of BELLS. It is peculiar to the Western part of the world, though somewhere or
other, but where I cannot recollect, I have read, that there is a similar ceremony in China.
We are told by Mr. Maurice that bells were sacred utensils of very ancient use in Asia. The
dress of the high-priest of the Jews on the most sacred and solemn occasions was trimmed with
bells and pomegranates. Calmet6 tells us, that the kings of Persia, who were both priests and
kings, had their robes trimmed with pomegranates and bells. This almost identifies the Jews
and Persians. Mr. Maurice states that bells are used in the ceremonials of the pagodas of India
to frighten away the evil spirits or demons, who are supposed to molest the devotee in his reli-
gious exercises, by assuming frightful forms, to distract his mind from the performance of his
1 Maur. Ind. Ant. VoL VI p, 216 * P. 516, note 2, and pp, 638, 641.
» Herbert's Travels, p. 58, fol. 1665. * Note to Reeves's Justin Martyr, p, 99.
* Glover's Answer to Marsh, p, 140. 6 Diet, word lelL
70 ORDINATION. — MARRIAGE.
duty* He says, " The vibration of the sacred bell, however, was ever heard with horror by the
cc malign demons, who fled at the sound, while the air being put in motion by it, became purified
" of the infection which their presence imparted. From Asia, it is probable that the bell, with a
" thousand concomitant superstitions, was imported into Europe, and mingled with the rites of a
" purer religion. Every body knows its importance in the catholic worship ; the ceremony of
" anathematizing with bell, book, and burning taper : and the thrilling sound of the dreadful
" passing bell, which not only warns the devout Christian to pray for the departing soul of his
" brother, and to prepare to meet his own doom, but drives away, said the good Catholics of old
" time, those evil spirits that hover round the bed of the dying man, eager to seize their prey, or>
" at least, to molest and terrify the soul in its passage into eternal rest." l
The bell probably not being known to the Lacedemonians, they used iufateatl of it a kettle-drum,
This is stated to be used at the death of their king to assibt in the emancipation of his boul at the
dissolution of his body ;* evidently our passing bell.
" Pope John XIV., about the year 970, issued a bull for the baptizing of Bells, ' to cleanse the
" * air of devils.9 The baptizing of Bells was only permitted to the Bishops suffragan, because it
" was of a more principal kind than that of infants: priests and deacons cuuld baptize them.
" The tongue of the baptized Bell made the ears of the affrighted demons ring with f Raphael
"'Saneta Margereta, ora pro nobis'— these prayers are on bells at St. Margaret's Mount in
« Cornwall.
"In Luther's time the princes of Germany complained to the Legate, *that, at the time of
" baptism, godfathers of the richer sort, after the Suffragan, take hold of the rope, &>ing together,
" name the bell, dress it in new clothes, and then have a sumptuous feast." 3
During the French Revolution, four of the bells of the cathedral of St. Louis, Versailles, were
destroyed. On the 6th of January, 1824, four new ones were baptized. The M King and the
" Duchess D'Angoul£me were sponsors. The inscription varying the name and number on each
" is — * Je suis la premiere de quatre sceurs, qui ont £te offertes a Dieu, &c. J'ai et£ b&iite, &c.,
" ' et nommg Marie par sa Majest£ Louis XVIII., Roi de France et de Navarre, et par S. A. R.
« 'Madame, Fille de Louis XVI., Duchesse d'AngouWme/" &c.
" The four sisters were suspended in the centre of a platform, under a square canopy of crimson
" silk, with broad gold fringe, and surmounted with plumes of ostrich feathers. The eldest wore
" a superb petticoat of embroidered gold brocade^ over another of silver tissue, festooned at the
" bottom, and fastened with white satin rosettes, so as to exhibit the end of the clapper, peeping
" out beneath. The others were arrayed in plain gold brocade over a silver tissue. During the
** ceremony no splendours in the grand ceremonials of 'the church were omitted. A white satin
" ribbon being passed from the iron tongue of each bell to the hand of the sponsors, they gave a
"smart pull for each response, and the sisters each time answered, *Amen/"4 Ah, happy
France, which possesses a family &o alive to the comforts of OUT blessed religion ! I ! AND STILL,
HAPPIER BRITAIN, THE SWOBD OF WHOSE ENEMY is WIELDED BY SUCH A FAMILY ! ! 1 A. D. 1830.
9. It cannot be shewn, perhaps, that the Persians had the same forms for the ordination of
their priests as those now used by the Christians \ but they had all the remainder of the hier-
archical system, as Dr. Hyde has shewn ; whence it is fair to conclude, that they had also the
forms of orders, the ^e^orowa, though, from the lapse of ages, &c., it cannot be satisfactorily
1 Maur. Ind, Ant. Vol. V. p, 904. * SchoL in Tiieocrit. Idyll, ii. ver. 36 , see Mr. Knight, p. 16?,
* Gravamu Cent. German. Grar. 51. 4 Hog's Hist. Cornwall, p, 470.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 10. 7^
proved. Had it not been for the casual mention of some other of the Persian customs by the
early fathers, we should have known nothing about them. Therefore, it must be left to the reader
to judge for himself, when he has considered what Dr. Hyde has said, whether there may not
transpire enough to justify him in inferring from the large part of the system which has come
down to us, that the remaining small part existed formerly, though the evidence of it be now lost.
This must not be considered as a solitary instance taken by itself, for in that case it would
certainly amount to nothing ; but it must be considered conjointly with all the other circumstances
of striking similarity, indeed of absolute identity, of the two religions. The practice of the
Xg^orovta, in the case of Confirmation, raises a strong suspicion, that it would not be wanting
In the more important matter of Ordination.
Hyde1 says, " Et quidem eorum sacerdotium fere coincidebat cum eo Judseorum, in quo erat
" unus sumtnus sacerdos, et deinde plurimi sacerdotes atque Levitae. Hoc autem excedebat
" hierarchica Persica, (quamvis Christum praecesserat, magis cum Christian!, coincidens,) in qu&
" prater sacristanos, 2 erant sacerdotes, et prsesules et archiprsesules, qui hodiernis Christiariorum
" presbyteris, et episcopis, et archiepiscopis correspondent. Ade6 ut ecclesiae Christianas ainicis
{C pariter et inimicis fort& novum et inopinatum videbitur in Persist reperisse constitutionem eccle-
e* siasticam prope 3000 abhinc annis fundatam, quse tarn pulchre coincident cum subsequente
" hierarchii Christian^.. Hocque non sine nuraine factum, sc, Persas olim ordin£sse idem quod
" postea Christus et Apostoli ejus, in plenitudine temporis, tandem nov& sanctione instituerunt
<f et confirmarunt. Ecclesice itaque eorum regimen in primi ejusdem constitutione fuit benfc
" fundaturn. Eorum synagogae minores seu indotatse ecclesise parochiales alunt in singulis unum
** sacerdotem, eumque ex decimis ac spontaneis contributionibus : nee ignis perpetui expensas
" in eis faciunt, nisi per lampades, exceptis magnis quibusdam diebus. At Pyrea, seu tenipla
" cathedralia, ubi sedes episcoporum, amplis terris et reditibus dotata erant, ad parandum sacri-
** ficia, et ligna coemendum, et ad alendum sacerdotium amplissimum." a
As with the Jews, the sacred fire was fed with sacred wood, from which the bark was taken.
And as now, in Romish countries, " in propriis aedibus plerique habent perpetuo ardentes lam-
" pades ab igno sacro accensas."4 On the great festivals they sent their victuals to a common
table, and ate together with the poor, as described by Pliny to be the case with the early Chris-
tians of Bithynia.
From the passages here cited it is evident, that the hierarchy of the Christians is a close copy
of that of the Persians, and that where the Christian differs from the Jewish it agrees with the
Persian, a proof that it is taken from the latter and not from the former. It has been before
observed, that Mr, R. Taylor, in his Diegesis, has clearly proved the Christian hierarchy to be
the same as that of the Essenes, even to the most minute parts. The similar customs of keeping
candles and lamps always burning in their temples is very striking. The larger endowments for
the cathedrals bear a marked resemblance to those of ours in this country, many of which were,
I have no doubt, the renovated establishments of the ancient Druids.
10. The rite of marriage was, with the ancient Persians, a religious service 5 and, for its
solemnization, they had a long liturgy or form, s after the manner of the Greek, the Romish, and
the Protestant Christians, and not according to the custom of the Scotch, among whom it is only
1 De Rel. Vet, Pers. Cap. xxvffi. p. 349, ed. 1700.
* From the ancient Sacristan of the Persians the Sacristan of tlie Catholics is taken, and also, by abbreviation, our
Saxtan and Sexton. Hyde, ut sup. Cap. xxx. p. 368 j Dupuis, Vol. III. p. 86.
3 Hyde, ut sup. Cap. xxviii. p. 351, ed. 1700. * Ibid. p. 352, ed. 1700, * Ibid. Cap. xxxiv.
72 PURGATORY.
a civil contract. l The contents of the liturgy are lost, but we know that the use of the ring, on
the second finger from the last on the left hand, was practised by almost all the ancients. 2
11. Every one knows in what high estimation oil was held among the Eastern nations, and he
has not read the Old Testament with attention who is not acquainted with the very frequent use
of anointing among the Jews. " The practice of anointing was not confined to kings, but was
" extended to prophets and others. It was especially practised on a medicinal account, and
" administered publicly in the synagogues by the elders on the Sabbath 5 where the applying of
*c this remedy to poor sick people, was accompanied by the prayers of the faithful for their
" recovery, and the pardon of their sins ; or if the persons were in a very weak condition, the
"elders came home to them. Lightfoot observes, out of the Jerusalem Talmud,3 that Rabbi
" Simeon, the son of Eleazar, permitted Rabbi Meir to mingle wine with the oil, when he
" anointed the sick on the Sabbath : and quotes as a tradition from them, that anointing on the
" Sabbath was permitted." 4 The Apostle James therefore, writing to the Jewish Christians,
whose synagogues and rites were precisely the same with those of the other Jews, says " Is any
" sick among you > let him send for the elders of the church j and let them pray over him,
" anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and
" the Lord shall raise him up ; and, if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." 5
Whether the Persians had the rile of extreme unction I do not know 3 but if they had it not,
then the Christians must have borrowed it from the Jews. When all other circumstances are
considered, few unprejudiced persons will be found to doubt, that this practice was probably
common to the Jews and the Persians.
There is scarcely any doctrine of the Romish Church which has afforded more matter for the
use of the weapon of ridicule than that of purgatory — that weapon declared by the Protestants
to be so unfair, abominable, and blasphemous, when applied against themselves ; but considered
to be so fair, honourable, and legitimate, when used by them against their Romish enemies.
The doctrines of Penance and Purgatory, taught by the Catholics and so much calumniated
by the Protestants, are exactly the same in principle as the penances and metempsychosis of the
Pythagoreans, Platonists, and Indians. The Romish doctrine of penance is precisely that of the
Hindoos, and I have no doubt that from the modified principle of the metempsychosis the doctrine
of purgatory took its rise. After man, reasoning upon the beauty, order, and sublimity, of the
creation, arrived at the knowledge of the First Great Cause and ITS6 attributes of benevolence
&c., the belief in man's immortality followed as a necessary consequence. For, if there were not
a future state of existence, where the good would be rewarded and the bad punished, how could
the Creator be just or benevolent ? And again, how could he be either just or benevolent if the
existence of man in a future state was not happy or miserable in proportion to his good or bad
conduct here 1 And as man has been created fallible in his nature, and inevitably subject to fall
1 It was the same in England from 1653 to 1660, and is considered to be a civil contract in the United States of
North America. Editor.
« Vide Tert. Apol. Cap. vl pp. 173, &c. * Harm. N. Test. Works, Vol. I, p. 333.
4 Toland's Naz. p, 54. « James v. 14, 15 ; see also Mark vi. 13, xvL 18.
6 I say its; for how absurd is it to give a masculine or feminine gender to the Creator ' The only-begotten Son ot
God ! l^ What nonsense I Tho only excuse which can be made for the use of the word begotten, is, that those who
adopt it apply to it no idea whatever, or s»orne idea which the word does not mean. [The Evangelist John alone uses
the expression, (ch. i. 14, 18, iii. 16, 18 ; 1 Epis. iv 9,) and as he wrote neither his Gospel nor his Epistle till long
after the resurrection and ascension of his revered Lord, the sense in which he used the term may probably be gathered
from Rev, i. 5—" Jesus Christ fi&firstJtegotten of the dead." Editor. J
BOOK II. CHAFFER I. SECTION 11. 73
into some degree of guilt, it was also thought to follow that his future state of existence could not
be eternally miserable. This was the inevitable consequence if the Creator were just ; hence
arose the doctrine of purgatory — a state of existence in which the soul of man or that part of him
that exists after death, and which though invisible must exist, will in future receive the reward
of his good or bad conduct.
This was the simple, unadulterated doctrine of the sages of India, Persia, Greece, and Rome :
it remained for the brilliant imagination of John Calvin to discover that it was consistent with the
attributes of benevolence in an omnipotent Creator to cause a being to exist, who, from his very
nature, is obliged to sin, and then, for such sin, to condemn him to endless misery. But these
doctrines are deduced by learned men of narrow minds from corrupt passages in the Gospels, and
still more from the fanatical nonsense of Paul. l
The doctrine of purgatory or of a future state, in which man was to receive the greater or less
reward of his misconduct in this life, like every thing in which priests have any concern, was soon
corrupted and converted into an engine to aggrandize their pernicious order, and to enable them
to wallow in luxury and sloth upon the hard earnings of their fellow-creatures. Hence they
taught their blind and credulous devotees, that by their superior sanctity they could prevail upon
God to alleviate or shorten the term of their future punishment, and by aggravating the faults of
the miserable and repentant sinner, in the last stage of weakness aud disease, and working upon
his terrified imagination, they extorted from him his wealth. Hence arose voluntary acts of
supererogation and penances, by suffering which in this life the punishment in another was to be
mitigated. Hence masses or services for the dead. Hence extreme unction and all the other
figments of Papistical foolery among the devotees of Greek, Catholic, or sectarian Christianity,
Protestants may exclaim against these superstitions, as they call them, but they are real
orthodox Christianity and cannot be got rid of. It is no argument to say, they are absurd or
peinicious. They are not more absurd than the doctrine of demoniacs, nor more pernicious than
the doctrine of the efficacy of faith without works. We have already quoted the opinion of the
Apostle James on the sqbject of anointing the sick, p. 72. He adds, (ch. v. 16,) Confess your
faults one to another ', and pray one for another, that ye may be Iiealed, The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much.
The doctrine of Purgatory, so offensive to the gloomy fanatics among the Protestants, because
it does away with the doctrine of eternal damnation, is, when not abused, one of the most sensible
of the miscalled Christian doctrines, because it is not contrary to the moral attributes of God, It
was a close copy of the doctrine of the Heathens and of Plato, who, in his Phsedon,2 divides the
dead into three sorts — the good in a state of bliss ; the very bad in Tartarus ;8 and the curable in
an intermediate state, from which, after they have been in it a suitable time, they are released.
For these last, the Gentiles were in the habit of offering sacrifices, called reXsra*. In his
Republic, II., Plato says, *f That these rshBrai belong only to the dead, and are named from
" TeAeur>j<raflr/5 being sacrifices appointed to deliver us from the infernal sufferings ; they were
(f offered chiefly in the night, and called ftupfpia, mysteries" The doctrine of Purgatory is found
1 Rather from passages in the Gospels and in Paul's Epistles misunderstood and misrepresented ? Editor.
8 P. 113.
3 I believe Paradise or Tartarus to be in Tartary, the farther side of Meru, the mount on the side of the North,
where the Gods assembled in judgment. Though the Europeans made it hot, I have little doubt that the natives of a
country under a tropical sun tnade their hell cold. The same reason in part caused the Hindoos to place the mount
Meru in a temperate climate, on, the sides of the North.
VOL. If. L
74 AURICULAR CONFESSION.
in Tertullian. * This early date shews them to be coeval or nearly so with Christianity,2 The
prayers for the dead are evidently the Gentile rsherat, purchased with gifts.
The Jews had the rite of Confession.3
On several of the ancient monuments in the Carapigdolia at Rome are bas reliefs of the ancient
Sibyls, or of females performing penance, which leave no room to doubt that this sacrament was in
use by the Romans. They may be seen by any one who will take the trouble to go to look at
them, This fact requires no further proof. The Flagellants were exact copiers of the priests of
Bellona, and of the priests of Baal. 4
The hermits of Italy are humble imitators of the Fakirs of India, who were well known in
ancient times. St. Austin says,5 "They abstain from women, and philosophize naked in the
" solitudes of the Indies. From the rising to the setting of the sun they remain with their eyes
u steadfastly fixed upon it. Others stand perpetually on one leg. They expose themselves without
" complaint to the extremes of cold and hunger."
The doctrine of purgatory and the efficacy of the prayers of the living to relieve the deceased
from their sufferings is a correct copy of the doctrine and practice of the Pagans. Ovid says that
uEneas was the first person who introduced the doctrine into Italy. In his Fasti he says,
Hunc moreni ^Eneas, pietatis idoneus auctor,
Attulit in terras, juste Latine, tuas.
Ille patris Genio solennia dona ferebat ;
Hinc populi ritus edidicere novos [pios?].— Lib. ii. 543 — 546.
It was the general belief of the Pagans, that the souls of the dead would return, to demand of
the living that they should offer sacrifices for the purpose of relieving them from the pains which
they endured. The Pagans differ from the Romish priests in this, that they offered up their
prayers for the dead on the ninth day, the Romish on the seventh.6 This is confirmed by
Polydore Virgil.7
Lord Kingsborough 8 states, that the Jews, of later day I suppose he means, were believers in
purgatory.
The tombs of the pretended Gods were not set up by merely an ignorant populace, but they
were encouraged and protected by law. Ludovicus Vives says, " The religion of sepulchres is»
" most ancient : whereby it was prohibited to any to violate, throw down, or break them : which
" law was not only in the twelve tables, and among Solon's, but also in the most ancient laws of
" Numa, and of both Latins and Greeks : which seem to belong not so much to the civil law as to
" the sacred : because sepulchres were esteemed as temples of their Manes or Demons : whence
" there was inscribed on them D. M, S. i. e. Diis Manibw Sacrum : and the sacreds which were
et performed to them were called Neda." 9 Over the tombs of Heathen Gods rose many a
church dedicated to the same God, but denominated a Christian saint. Thus the tomb of Bacchus
became a church of St. Baccus. Thus again the pretended tomb of the deified Romulus in Rome
became the church of St. Theodoras.
13. Of all the weapons or engines ever yet discovered by rogues to enable them to tyrannize
1 De Moneg , and Origen, Lib. iii. in Job. * Gale's Court of Gent. Vol. III. Book ii. Ch. ii. Sect. 3 and 11.
3 Lord Kingsborough's Mexico, Vol. VI. p. 301. 4 Tertul. Apol. Cap. ix. Lib. ad Mart, j 1 Kings xviii. 28.
5 Lib. xv. de Civ. Dei ,- Plin. Hist. Nat* Lib. vii, Cap. ii. 6 Blondus, Rom. Trium, Lib. 5i, p. 44,
7 Lib. vi, Cap. x. fl Antiq. of Mexico, Vol. VI, p. %.
9 Gale's Court Gent Book ii. Chap. ii. Sect, 3.
BOOK II. CHAPTER I. SECTION 13. 7§
over fools, nothing has ever yet been found so efficacious and powerful as Auricular Confession.
" Confess your faults one to another/* says St. James, and this put the most secret affairs and
counsels of all the states of Christendom into the hands of the Pope and his priests. This powerful
engine was itself alone sufficient, in the skilful hands of the priests, to lay all the riches and good
things of this world at the feet of holy mother church — to enable its bloated, pampered hierarchy
to ride triumphant over the liberties of mankind, and to reduce the rest of their fellow-creatures
to the lowest state of mental debasement and misery. By means of the priests the kings tyran-
nized over the people, and by means of the slavery of the kings, the priests had at their command
the wealth of the whole world.
The observation is as true as it is trite, that a small drop will wear a hole in a large stone : thus
causes apparently small by long continued and unceasing action produce effects which to super-
ficial observation seem out of proportion to their power. Of this nature is the practice of auricular
confession in the papal church. To this, in a great measure, may be attributed the victory which
it gained over all its competitors. Jt is almost inconceivable what a vast variety of opportunities
of acquiring power and wealth this must have thrown into its hands. It must have been almost
equally useful in enabling it to avoid dangers. The church possessed by this means a species of
omniscience. It is evident that by means of its corresponding societies of monks it would be
timely warned of the approach of every danger. Knowledge has been said to be power \ this is
very true, and this knowledge, for a space of almost a thousand years, enabled the Papal See to
dictate laws to the whole European world 5 and, if the art of printing had not been discovered,
would have reduced it to the situation in which Tibet now is, under its grand Lama. The God in
Tibet and the God (as he was actually called) at Rome would have been in every respect similar.
Indeed, I should be glad to learn wherein the difference consists between the adoration 1 paid to
the Lama, and that paid by the cardinals to the Pope on his first exaltation on the altar after his
instalment. Modern sophistry may talk of civil adoration : the understandings of mankind having
become too enlightened, the daring violation of religion and decency must be explained away.
But the practice is continued : it awaits a restoration, by the holy allies, of the darkness of the
tenth century. The papal policy is sometimes suspended — it never dies. In more senses than
one, nullum tempus accurrit ecclesice.
It would be giving the Christian priests too much credit to allow them the merit of inventing
these engines of despotism and priestcraft ; they were merely imitators, though they may have
improved upon the originals which they copied. They removed some absurdities, they added
some stimuli \ but all the doctrines to which I have just now drawn the attention of the reader,
are to be found with very little deviation in the faith of the oriental nations, and from them they
passed to the Christians through the medium of the sects of Gnostics and Essenes, both of which
existed among the natives of Asia and Africa long before the time allotted for the birth of Christ.
Thus I think the seven celebrated sacraments of the Romish Christians, in which the two held by
the Protestants are included, are proved to be nothing but renewed Gentile ceremonies, that is,
integral parts of the usually called pestilent and idolatrous superstition of the Pagans.
1 See Eustace's Classical Tour.
CHAPTER II.
REVENUES. — MONKS AND NUNS. — MITRE. — ZONE, — CASSOCK,— PRAYING STANDING. — WHITE SURPLICE.
TITHES PAID. TONSURE PRACTISED. CROSIER, &C.— CANDLES, INCENSE.— PROCESSIONS. IMAGES. ST.
ABRAHAM.— FESTIVALS. — EPIPHANY. ST. DENIS, &C. — BAMBINO AT ROME. DEDICATING CHURCHES, &C.,
&C.— BULLA, AGNUS DEI. ANGELS. DAEMONS. — SUNDAY, DIES SOLIS. VARIOUS CUSTOMS.
1. THE revenues of the Romish priests came from the same sources as those of the sacrificers
of the Pagans. They had first the tithes, then offerings, which the devotees presented to the
Gods, which they took and applied to their own use. But as the offerings were casual, and not
always to be depended on, a provision was made from the public revenue for the different orders,
and in general for all those who were employed about the offices of religion. Besides this, many
private individuals consecrated their property to the same purpose \ so that rich benefices became
founded : and these benefices were, as they are with us, some in the presentation of the prince or
the college of pontifices, others in that of individuals who had the right of patronage. And as at
this day, complaints against pluralities were made.1 The Pontifex Maximus, also, had the right
to the annates, or fruits of the first year, which he might sell or give away. Another source of
wealth was found in the legacies left by those who wished prayers to be said for their souls after
their deaths, which is proved by the monuments of the ancient idolaters still remaining. Here is
the origin of the Romish prayers for the dead.2 Another source of wealth arose from confisca-
tions of the property of condemned persons. The houses and property of Cicero were confiscated
to the sacred college when he was banished, and the revenue ordered to be expended in sacrifices
to the Goddess of liberty. By these means the priests, in ancient and modern times, have equally
amassed great wealth.
2. The Pagans, besides their pontiffs, their priests, and their curiones, had different convents or
orders of religious men and women, who took the epithet of holy or dim : some called themselves
Quirini from Romulus, others Diales from Jupiter, cwro rs A/o^, others Martiales from Mars.
They called themselves brothers, because they were bound to one another by reciprocal charity
and alliance, 3 and were all on an equal footing. Thus, at this day, we have Jesuits, Augustinians,
Benedictines, &c. The Monks among the Pagans were proprietors of land. T. Livy says,4 that
Numa iitstituted the Quirinales and tfoe Vestals, and established for them a revenue. Others
were Mendicants, as the religious of the Great Mother of the Gods,5 who answered exactly to
the Christian Mendicants begging for the Virgin, the Mother of God. Apuleius, in his Golden
Ass, has ridiculed them for their hypocrisy, by which they, under the pretence of poverty, acquired
riches. No beggars were allowed in Home except these. The Romish Mendicants, like those of
the Pagans, were the great dealers in saints, in relics, in apostolic letters, indulgences, and other
trumpery. They in both cases had particular habits, and long beards. If they had not been
* Tit. Liv. Lib. ix. et xxx.; Cic. de Leg. Lib. i , Suet, in Claudio.
* Blondus, Rom. Trium. Lib. ii. p 33. 3 Alex, ab Alex. Genial. Lib. i, (Jap. xxx\i.
4 yb« l 5 Augustin, de Civit. Dei, Lib. vil Cap. u.
BOOK II, CHAPTER II. SECTION 5. 7J
particularly dressed they would not have been known from other people, says Bellarmine. l Their
silence was an exact copy of the silence of Pythagoras \ and their vow of poverty was an imitation
of that, of some of the ancient philosophers, who distributed all their substance to the poor.
The Hierophantes, at Athens, drank of the Hemlock to render themselves impotent, that when
they came to the Pontificate they might cease to be men. The priests of Egypt never mixed
with women, and to extinguish the passion for the female sex they never ate flesh or drank
wine.2 The priests of the Great Mother drank of a certain river of Phrygia, which putting them
in a fury they castrated themselves, and thence were called Semi-viri. The priests of Egypt had
their fast days, when they abstained from flesh and wine. The priests of Eleusis kept strictly the
three commandments given by Triptolemus— to honour their father and mother; the second, to
reverence the Gods $ and the third, to eat no flesh. Numa established fasts, particularly one in
honour of Ceres, when the people offered up their prayers for a good harvest3 The Pagan fasts
were to appease the Gods; thus Horace says, Mane die quo tu indids jejunia. From these
examples we see the origin of the Romish fasts.
3. The father Ange de S. Joseph speaks of the ruins of Persepolis in the following terms: "There
" are many inscriptions on the marble of the ruins, but in characters unknoxvn to all the universe,
" which shews their great antiquity. Many bas reliefs represent the divinities, the sacrifices, the
" funeral pomps, processions of men with large vests, long hair, with bonnels in form of a
61 mitre" 4 From this it is evident that the mitre which we see worn by the priests in the
Mithraitic mysteries, and which is still worn on grand occasions by the bishops of the Romish and
Greek churches, is of very ancient establishment.
4. When young Persians came to be from twelve to fifteen years of age, prayer and ceremonies
took place, and they were invested with the girdle.5 They were then supposed to be capable of
understanding the doctrines of the religion. It was, in fact, the ceremony of confirmation.
In the Sadder, the sacred book of Zoroaster, it is written, that God has commanded the girdle
as a sign of the obedience which is due to him.6 It was believed that it rendered the wearer safe
from daemons. All the Christians of the Levant, whether Syrians, Arabians, Egyptians, or Coptes,
believe that they commit a sin if they go into a church without their girdle. 7 They found this
practice upon Luke xii. 35. The monks use a girdle with tweke knots to shew that they are
followers of the twelve apostles : and when one of them is excommunicated they pull off his girdle,
When the Mohamedans receive into their communion a proselyte, either from the sect of the Magi
or Christians, they cut off his girdle, which he in future disuses. Thus we here see whence the
girdle of the monks is taken.8
5. From the same place with the girdle came the use of the Cassock or Sudra. From Hyde we
learn that Zoroaster is reported to have said that be received it from heaven along with the girdle:
Hyde describes it to be the same with that used by our English clergy, and shews that it was
from the girdle that we derived the old English proverb— ungirt unblessed, 9
Concerning the Origin of the Zone and Cassock Hyde 10 says, " In ejus imperio venit Zerdusht
"propheta, coram Gushtasp prophetiam praetendens, eique dicens: Ego sum propheta quern Deus
» DeMon, Lib.ii. Cap. xl.; Socrates, Lib.ii. Cap. xxxiii. ; Hieron, ad Eustach. Vol.! pp. 49, 50.
2 Hieron. Lib. adv. Jovin. 3 Liv, Lib. xxxv. 4 Beaus. Vol II. Liv. ii Ch. iv p. ^07
* Beans Hist. Man. Vol I. Liv. ii. Ch, iv, p. 198. 6 Hyde de Rel Vet. Pers. p. 44 1.
7 Asscm. Vol. III. Pt. i. p. 359. 8 D'Herbelot, Bib Orien. p. 68 ; see also the word Zounar.
" Hyde de Rel. Vet. Pers. Cap. xxx. p. 370. !0 Ibid. Cap. xxiv. p. 3i>0, cd, 1700.
78 PRAYING STANDING.-— WHITE SURPLICE. TITHES PAID. TONSURE PRACTISED. CROSIER, &C.
" excelsus ad te misil : et istum librum Zend-avest& e Paradise attuli : ct hanc Sudram et
"Cingulum mihi dedit, inquiens, istam Sudram indue,1 et istud Cingulum in medium tuum
" cinge, ut anima tna a Gehenn& liberetur et salvationem iuvemat; Religionem quoque Dei in
" mundo propagate." " In pihno infantum baptismate imponitur nomen : et postea anno
" septimo ut quideni aiunt, vel potius anno decimo quinto (quando censetur intrare in reli-
" gionem,) turn adhibitis precibus a sacerdote datur confirmatio solennis. Et eo anno decimo
" quinto (ut religionis tessera) eis traditur sudra, seu tunica, et cingulum, quibus nunquam, ne
" per unum momentum (nisi in lecto sint) destitui debent,"* " Pueri et Puellae post quindecem
" annorum aetatem (ut supra) cingulum, religionis tesseram, iuduere incipiunt, et divina praecepta
"ejus instillantur," 3 "Tunica ciugitur cingulo, secundum sacerdotalem babitum in AngliA,
" excepto colore."4 Hyde states that the stole was used in the ntes of Mithra. " Mithra ibi
" cst in figurfi, regis Persici, uti constat ex Tiarfi, direct! et Stolfc, quee solis regibus competunt." 5
6. It often happens that trifling circumstances are more striking than those of more conse-
quence. The identity of the two religions being evident, they are le&s likely to be the produce of
accident. And what I am going to describe are of so out-of-the-way, unexpected a kind, that
there must be some cause for the similarity.
From Hyde we learn that the ancient Persians set apart four days In each month answering1 to
the Sabbath days of the Jews and to our Sundays, which were festivals. On these days they met
in their churches, and had more solemn service than on other days, reading portions of their sacred
book, and preaching and inculcating morality and purity. " Habent enim suo modo liturgiam
" publicans, quatn certo quodam tono, seu piano cantu, inodulantur et cantillant, sc. certain atque
" praeseriptam precum et aliorum rituum formam." He also says, " Ubi post peractam prostra-
" tionem (ut fiebat in templo Hierosolymitano) STANTES GRANT." 6 It is impossible here not to
be struck with the identity of the Persian and Christian services. The four days of the month, the
reading of portions of the sacred books, the preaching, the liturgia publica, the praescripta forma
rituum et precum, the tono seu piano cantu of the Romish, and chaimting of the Protestant cathe-
drals. But perhaps among these different traits of resemblance there is no one more striking than
that of the praying standing on the four festival days of the month.7 The early Christians always
prayed on a Sunday standing. Tertullian says, Die dorninicd jejunare nefas dticumis vel de
gemculis adorare. 8 In Canon sixteen, ° worshiping on the knees on Sunday is forbidden. It
says, " Porro in sanctis dominicis dicbus sacrisque aliis solennitatibus nullae fiant genuflexiones,
qnia Ma sancta ecdesia in hisce l&tatur et exultat diebus"
7, Silius, speaking of the strange rites used in the Gaditan temple of Hercules, says, the priests
officiated there barefooted, practised chasity, had no statues, used white linen surplices ; and it
was a notorious custom with the ancient Phoenicians to pay tithe. The shaving of the head and
surplices were borrowed from the Egyptian priests, and the crosier or pastoral staff was the Ktuus
of the Roman augurs. 10 The toDbure of the priests and monks is an exact imitation of that of
the priests of Isis 5 « and St. Epiphanius witnesses also, 12 that the priests of Serapis at Athens
1 " Sudra est Tunica saccrdotalis brevior, Anglic^ a Cassock, ad mediam am am parting ens."
°- Hyde de Rel. vet Pers. Cap. xxviii. p. 350, ed. 1700. a Ut sup, p 353.
+ Ib. Cap xxx p 370. * Ib. Cap.iv. p 119. 6 Ib. Cap. xxxviii, p. 352
7 This beautiful festival our wbsurd modern devotees, who are as ignorant as they are bigoted, wish to change from
a festival to a day of humiliation. In my Horse Sabbaticse, I have discussed this at length.
8 Tertul. de Cor. Cap. iiL d Cone. NIC. Pap. Silvester I. A D. 325,
10 Priestley's Hist. Cor. Vol II. p. 251f ed. 1782. n Apul, Asino Aureo. I2 Hser. 64.
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 9. 79
had the head shaved. This custom is forbidden in Lev. xxi. 5, and the prohibition is afterwards
repeated, in Ezek. xliv. 20 3 for this is the meaning of the word nmp qrte9 as Rabbi Solomon on
the report of Buxtorf has noticed.
The habit and the ornaments of the ecclesiastics at this day have been copied from those of the
ancient Pagans. The cross of the bishops I need not name again. The Lituus or Crosier was
the Hieralpha of the Hindoos, taken from the cave of Bala-rama near Muttra, and seen in a
variety of fantastic forms on the ancient Egyptian monuments. It is often united to the cross
thus *\ J- It was the origin of the jawbone of Samson. It was the first rude, ill-formed
plough, thus
The Amicts and Dotninos of the bishops came from the same place ; for the Pagans never
made any sacrifice without having the head covered with an Amict, which they called Orarium,
and a Superhumeral. They wore also an Aube, as the priest does when he goes to say mass. l
And the Flamens were clothed with a robe made with copes, like those which the Romish priests
wear in the churches, 2 The Stole is an imitation of that which they put on the back of the
victims which they offer on the altar. The Cardinal Baronius 3 has remarked, under the year 44
of our Lord, that the ancient Pagans had the surplice : that they carried the pastoral staff called
the lituus or crosier $ that they used the episcopal ring and mitre ; that the fiamen or priest who
sacrificed was clothed in a garment of fine linen, called by the Latins Alba Vestis : and Juvenal,
in his 6th Satire, says, that the high priest of Anubis, environed with a crowd of other priests
clothed in fine linen, with his head shaved, deserves the first rank and supreme honour.
8. The use of lamps and candles, in the day-time, in the churches, was copied from the
Egyptians, who, according to Clemens Alexandriims, first invented them,4 No person can look
into the ancient temples of India and Egypt and not see that candles, either by day or night,
could not be dispensed with. All their ceremonies must have been by candle-light, as the most
sacred parts of their temples had no windows or openings to admit light. During the delivery of
sermons I have sometimes met with churches, in Italy, from which the sun was entirely excluded.
The use of incense was common both to Jews and Gentiles.
Saepe Jovera vidi cum jam sua mittere vellet
Fulmina, tkure dato sustintiisse manunu*
Alex, ab Alexandro says,0 that the Egyptians appeased their Gods with prayers and incense.
9. The processions around the streets and towns, in Catholic countries, are exact imitations of
those of the Pagans. When the priests of the Mother of the Gods made their processions through
the streets, they carried the image of Jupiter, which they placed for a short time in small bowers
dressed out for him, precisely as is done in Paris at the F6te Dieu. Virgil, in the first book of his
Georgics,7 recommends the peasants to carry the statue of Ceres round their fields :
** „ Aniwa magnse
" Sacra refer Cereri," &c.
** Terque novas circum felix eat hostia fruges,"
Further accounts of the Heathen processions may be seen in Apuleius. 8
*
1 Plut. in Aut. Fenestrelle, Chap, v. * Du Verdier en ses Leqons, Liv. ii. Ch. fo p, 86.
* Noticed by Marolles in his Memoirs, 4 Strom, i. * Ovid's Fasti, 5.
6 Qea. Dieruro, Lib. ii. Cap, xarii. 7 Lines 338, 339, 345.
8 Lib. ii. Metam. p. 200, edit. Piautin, 1587; alsoPolyd. Virgil, Cap, xi. p. 414.
80 PROCESSIONS. IMAGES* ST. ABRAHAM.
As the Roman Church has its processions for rain or fair weather, or to avert tempests or
famine, &c., so the Pagans had theirs exactly in the same manner; they are copies of one
another.
Though it may be unnecessary to point out the identity of the practices of the modern and
ancient Romans in the use of images, yet it may not be unnecessary to observe, that precisely the
same reasons were given in excuse for the use of them. Gregory I., against Serenus, bishop of
Marseilles, says, that what books are to those who can read, pictures and statues are to those who
are ignorant of the art. Porphyry, in Eusebius, justifies images on the same ground. He says
they are the books of the ignorant. Theodoret on this subject says, that the demon invented
images for the use of the ignorant, that by this means he might establish his superstition. There
is no person, says Celsus,1 so foolish and absurd as to believe that these things are really Gods,
and not the symbols which we adore in honour of the deity. And in Aruobius,2 the Pagan says
to the Christian^ " You deceive yourselves 5 for we believe not the brass, the gold, and the silver,
" which compose the statues, are God : but we serve God in them, and we venerate the Gods as
" dwelling in them, by virtue of consecration." Constantine, bishop of Constance, in the second
Council of Nice, declared, " For myself I render to images the same worship of honour which is
" due to the Holy Trinity : and let him be anathematized as a Marcionite and Manichaean who
" shall refuse to do the same."3
The Chiistians have not only copied the practices of bowing down to the idols of their great
men deified or elevated to the rank of inferior Gods or heavenly personages, but they have in
many cases adopted the very persons adored by the Heathens. They have not only adopted the
same practices of the apotheosis, but they have done it with the same rites and ceremonies, and
given the same attributes to their deceased great men. The ancients raised such of their great
men or kings to the rank of inferior Gods as had been benefactors to mankind, or as they chose to
flatter, calling them by the title of divus. The souls of their emperors, if deified, were seen to fly
away to heaven, in the form of a bird, from the body, when placed on the funeral pile : thus, in a
&imilar manner the soul of St. Poly carp, when he was burnt, was seen in the form of a dove to
wing its way to the mansions of the blessed, and he became divus Polycaip. Thus like divus
Augustus, the apostles all became divi; as Divus Paulus, Divus Petrus, &c.
The Roman Divi were considered only as created inferiores divi, and intercessors with the
Supreme God, but residents of the heavenly mansions. This is exactly the case with the Christian
Divi i they are considered only as intercessors, but residents of the heavenly mansions ; while the
remainder of mankind are excluded from these abodes till the day of judgment. The relics of the
Divi of each also received adoration, and, at times, worked miraculous cures. They both had
altars erected to them, with lights constantly burning before them. Their festivals were kept on
set days peculiarly dedicated to them, and the images themselves were in many cases considered
to be animated, and to possess and exercise a supernatural power, I had in my possession a book,
which I have given to the British Museum, published by the authority of Pope Pius the Sixth, in
which the miracles performed by a great number of images are described : they opened their eyes,
they wept, they spoke, they performed cures. Some of them are considered more powerful than
others, and in consequence acquire more votive offerings, which are given to them in some cases,
as at Loretto, to an immense amount both in number and value. It cannot be said that these are
merely the idle superstitions of the vulgar. The book alluded to was published by the authority of
' Oiig.eont Cels. Lib. vii pp, 387 and 285, 292.
* Lib, vi. p. 229, ex edit Fiol ; see also Lact. Lib, ii, Cap. ii, 3 Act 4, a little from the end.
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 10. 81
the Pope and Roman Church, the miracles were all proved before a commission of cardinals, at the
head of which was Cardinal Somaglia, and the genuineness of the book itself is actually ascertained
beyond dispute by the WRITTEN attestation and signature of the register of the Papal chancery.
Enlightened men, both Greeks and Romists, will be offended at hearing the term idolatry
applied to the believers in their religions. But there is in reality no difference between the icon
worship of the ancients and that of the moderns. The enlightened men of this day are not
idolaters, nor were the Ciceros nor Plinys of ancient times, but the rabble, genteel and ungenteel,
who believe in the miracles of the images, and honour them with their votive offerings, most
certainly are. It is childish to dispute about the mere word or name given to the practice.
Whatever the ancients did to their images, the moderns do to theirs ; and in whatever light the
ancients considered them, and with whatever attributes they endowed them— precisely in the same
light and with the same attributes the moderns view and endow them. The demigods of the
ancients are correctly the saints of the moderns, and both bear the name of Divi.
The aywActTf e*a of the Greek and Roman, as well indeed as that of the Protestant Church, is
nothing more than a servile imitation of the AaifiotfoXar^sjct or Aeio-iSaj/wwa of the Gentiles ;
the proof of this may be seen at great length in Gale's Court of the Gentiles, *
On the adoration of saints Bochart says, " They have transferred to their saints all the equipage
*c of the Pagan Gods : to St. Wolfang the hatchet, or hook of Saturn : to Moses the horns of
" Jupiter Hammon : to St. Peter the keys of Janus. In brief, they have chased away all the Gods
"out of the Pantheon at Rome, to place in their room all the Saints; whose images they worship
" with like devotion as those of the Pagan Gods sometimes were. They dress them up in ap-
" parel, they crown them with garlands of flowers, they carry them in procession, they bow before
" them, they address their prayers to them, they make them descend from heaven, they attribute
" to them miraculous virtues."2 Bochart then, in support of his assertion that the Romish adora-
tion of saints is nothing but a renewal of the adoration of the Pagan damans, observes, that the
Canonization of Saints is correctly the Apotheosis of the Pagans, and that Cajetan's Gods by parti-
cipation are the very same as Plato's ®so* ysvv^ro*, made Gods, which is the title he gives to his
dasmons. All these saints, when they were determined to be fit objects of canonization, were
deemed to have been possessed of divine inspiration or the afflatus, in a fuller degree than common
priests, all of whom have a portion of the Holy Ghost or the afflatus numinis instilled into them at
their ordination by the imposition of the bishops' hands. These inspirations or entrances into the
flesh of portions of the divine spirit are correctly the minor Incarnations or Avatars of the Hindoos,
who say, there have been thousands of incarnations or avatars of the Supreme Being.
Among the saints of the Roman church we have Saint Abraham and Mary his niece. He came
from a place called Edessa in Mesopotamia. He was considered as a saint in the Latin, Greek,
and Coptic churches.3 His holiday is the 15th of March. If we make allowance for the old style,
this brings him to the 25th of March, the Vernal Equinox. We need not repeat what has been
proved respecting Maria, the queen of heaven, being the generative power. We here have her
identified with Sarah, the wife of the Brahmin, which serves to prove the mythological charac-
ter of Abraham and Sarah, who are evident enough in these two saints.4
10. The Pagans had their festival days in honour of their country or local Gods ; these
1 Vol. III. Book ii. Ch. ii. Sect. iii. p. 184.
* Bochart against Veron, p. 3, Ch. xxv, p. 888; Gale's Court Gent, Vol. III. Book ii. Ch. ii, Sect iv.
* Butler's Lives of the Saints. * See Vol. I. pp, 98, 162, 305, 387, 391, 646, 64?, 697, 698, Editor.
VOL, II, M
82 FESTIVALS.
exactly imitated by the Christians in their wakes and revels, which were kept in honour of pre-
tended martyrs, the names of many of whom, being the exact names of the heathen Gods, suffi-
ciently explain what they were.
The Goddess Februa, or the Februata Juno, became the Purificata Virgo Maria. The old
Romans celebrated this festival in precisely the same way as the moderns— by processions with
wax lights, &c., and on the same day, the 2cl of February. The author of the Perennial Calendar
observes, that it is a remarkable coincidence that the festival of the miraculous conception of Juno
Jugalis, the blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven, should fall on the very day the modern Romans
have fixed the festival of the conception of the blessed Virgin Mary. Being merely a continuation
of an ancient festival, there is nothing remarkable in it.
In the autumn a very peculiar festival was celebrated by almost all nations in honour of the
dead.
On the 2d of November tlizfestum Dei Mortis is annually celebrated. The priest makes a pro-
cession round the burial-ground^ with his censer and aspersorio, sprinkling holy water and singing
a miserere as he goes along. This, again, is nothing more than a heathen ceremony.
This festival is yet annually celebrated by the Buddhists of Tibet, by the Papists at Rome, and
has yet its service and day in the calendar of the Protestant church of England.1 Mr. Turner2
informs us, that on the last days of October and first of November an annual festival is kept, which
is sacred to the souls of the dead. All the monasteries are lighted up and great ceremonies take
place among the monks. It appears that this festival is kept at the same time in Bengal and Hin-
dostan. It is remarkable that this festival was anciently kept by the Druids in Ireland, and is yet
continued there. In Ireland it was called the festival of Samhan, lasted two days, and was begun
to be celebrated on the evening preceding the first of November, which evening is yet called
Oidhche Samhna, or the night of Samhan, This solemnity was consecrated by the Druids to the
intercession of the living for the souls of those who had died the year preceding that day; for,
according to their doctrine, Samhan called before him these souls, and passed them to the man-
sions of the blessed, or returned them to a re-existence here as a punishment for their crimes, a
This Samhan was also called Bal-Sab or Lord of Death. This is the Beelzebub of the Christians.
On this festival all the fires, except the sacred fires of the Druids, were extinguished, and every
one was prohibited, under the most terrible penalties, from procuring this indispensable article in
any way except from them, for which a stipulated price was paid. 4 This festival is even yet
partly continued by the Irish, who light great fires on the tops of their mountains, and pass their
children and flocks through them to Beal or Samhan, as described in the Old Testament to Bel or
Baal.5 The Irish call this festival Bealtine, or the feast of the fires of Baal. This solemnity is
what we call All-Souls' Day, Gen. Vallancey says,0 " it was called La Samhna or Hallowmas- Day.
** The Druids taught the Pythagorean system of the transmigration of souls, and that Samhan or
"Baal Samhan, at this season called the souls to judgment, which according to their merits or
a demerits in the life past, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of the human or brute species,
u and to be happy or miserable during their next abode on this sublunary globe: hence Samhan
1 All-Saints' Day— united with All Souls*. Tkis festival was also kept by the Mexicans. See p. 31. Editor.
8 In the account of his Journey to Tibet, p. 318. a ceitic Druids, Ch. v. Sect, xvii,
4 Samhain, All-Saints' Eve, geuit Samhna. Oidhche Shainhna, All-Saints' Eve. (O'Brien's Diet.) Sainhain, SHAW
and LHYD, Arch, Brit,, La Samhna, Hallowmas-day, Macdomtld's Vocab.
* Jeremiah xix. 5, xxxii. 35; see also on Molech, Lev, xviii. 21, xx* 2— 4$ 2 Kings xxih. 10. Editor.
c Coll. Hib. Vol. III. p. 444.
BOOK II, CHAPTER II. SECTION 10. 83
ts was named [by the Irish] Balsab or Dominus Mortis, for Bal is Lord, and Sab death. But the
" punishment of the wicked they thought might be alleviated by charms and magic art, and by
cf sacrifices made by their friends to Bal, and presents to the Druids for their intercession."
" It has been the opinion of some learned men, that the Baal-Zebub of the idolatrous Jews was
ce the God of fiies or locusts, as the LXX, have translated it Deum Mu7av3 muscam, or Moiaygov
" muscarum avemincum. Basnage is singular in supposing this deity to be Mars, or the God of
" Battles and of Arms, because, says he, the Phoenicians might readily convert r»K^2f tsalath into
" Ml Zebub. The Irish or Iberno-Celtic retains both 5 for sab is death, and also strong, potent,
" valiant ,• so in Hebrew *O3f tsaba militia $ in Arabic, zab, repelling by force 5 zaMn, a life guard-
" man, and zaaf9 death; but our Hiberno Druids retaining Balsab synonymous to Samhan, it is
" evident, Baal-Zebub is Domuius Mortis." 1 The day following is the festival of Satnhau, to whom
black sheep were offered in sacrifice.2 This festival lasted till the beginning of December, which
was named Mi NOJLAGH, or the mouth of the new born, from the Hebrew word nVw nule Nolah,
i. e. parire, to bring forth young ; whence the French word NOEL, and the Irish NOLAGH, Christ-
mas-day. This was a month of great rejoicing, as the former was of mourning.3 The Persians
light fires in their temples, &c., on the day answering to the 2d of November, precisely as the
Irish did, and yet do.4
Dr. Hyde5 states, that this custom is continued among the fire worshipers or Guebres of Persia
at this day: and he observes, that he learns from the Talmud, that this practice was adopted by
the Israelites when they were in captivity in that country among the Medes, who are called Persse.
It continues two days, because it begins on the eve, as the Buddhist book of Genesis reckons time,
"and the evening and the morning tuere the first day;" not the morning and the evening. The
identity of the religious rites in the East and West, I am justified in here reasserting, cannot be
doubted. Among the Druids of Ireland, the same doctrines of a Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer,
are found, and many of the Gods have the same names : 6 for instance — Samhan, Bud, Chandra,
Om, Eswara, Cali, &c.
The Mohamedans have this festival as well as the Hindoos and Christians \ but this is not sur-
prising, as they are merely a sect of the latter.
Now I beg my reader to recollect what he has read in the Preliminary Observations respecting
the festival of the Vernal Equinox, when the sun was in Taurus. 7 This was evidently the coun-
terpart of it — the festival of the Autumnal Equinox — exactly six months from the former. At the
Vernal Equinox began the empire of glory, of happiness, of the good principle, of Oromasdes j at
the Autumnal Equinox began the empire of the evil principle, of Arhiman, and Bal-Sab. No one
can for a moment doubt the meaning of the festival $ and its universal celebration and reception
would fully confirm what is said from Mr. Maurice respecting the Tauric festival, in the Prelimi-
nary Observations, if confirmation were wanting. The identity of the religious rite, in both East
1 Vail. Col Hib. Vol. Ill, pp. 447, 448, &c. * Ibid, and see Viigii's Geor. Lib, iv, 547.
3 Vail, tit sup. Vide ParLhurst for root i^ and Frev, under word "rVi:i.
4 Maur Hist. Hind. Vol. II. p, 89, ed 4to. For some curious remarks about the Childermas, or the Feast of the
Innocents, see Vallancey, ut sup, VoL III. p, 446. This relates to the % bishop in some of our cathedrals. The
month of November is called in Ireland JVh Samhan, month of Samhan, or Mi dubh, month of sorrow or grief, The
Welsh call it y mis du9 the month of grief. For explanation of feammael and Samhan, (perhaps Esmin ?) Beelzebub,
Pluto, Asima, see Vail ut sup pp 448, &c , and for every thing relating to the first and second of November.
3 De Religione Vet, Pers, j Vail. Coll. Hib. VoL IV. p. 346. 6 Vide Celtic Druids, Ch. v. Sect. xxvh.
7 VoL I pp. 24—26.
M2
84 EPIPHAKY. ST, DENIS, &C.
and West, is striking, and proves the wide extent of the Buddhist religion ; but it is chiefly im-
portant in fixing the chronology. It must have taken place by the true Zodiac about 4680 years
before Christ.
The priests disguise to their votaries, and perhaps to themselves, the identity of the Christian
and Gentile festivals, by pretending that one of the Popes ordered the missionaries to fix the birth-
days of the saints to the heathen festival^ to humour the prejudice of the Heathen, and thus, by
degrees, to draw them into Christianity. But here is the doctrine of prayers for the dead as well
as the ceremony on the same day. Bebides, the very fact of the Pope ordering it on a certain spe-
cified occasion, goes very far to prove that it was not the general practice. So far were the early
Christians from adopting Heathen ceremonies, that they would not intentionally even call the
months of the year or the days of the week by their usual names, for fear they should pollute their
mouths by those names, particularly that of Venus, which is a practice still continued by the
society of Quakers. Gregory Thaumaturgus, who lived in the third century, is commended by
Gregory Nyssenus, for thus changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays. l
1 1 , We Protestants keep The Ey>ipliany> pretending that it is the manifestation of Christ to the
Gentiles. Isaac Casauban shall tell us what it is.2 " Baronius errs, in that he judgeth, that the
" Epiphany was instituted, in the primitive time, in commemoration of the Magi, their appari-
" tion. This opinion is refuted, first by the very appellation of Epiphanies, and thence by the
" use of authors and history. The appellation S7n<pavsJa>i>? of Epiphanies, was brought into eccle-
" siastic observation from Pagan rites, on a pious account. Greek writers call sTrifyavsioiv, Epipha-
" nie, the apparition of a deity, whatever the manner were by which such a deity was supposed to
have given some sign of his presence." Diodorus says, ee That Isis was wont to appear by night :
cc and Dionysius Halicarnassus greatly reprehended such as derided the epiphanies of the Gods
" by which they manifest themselves to men. In commemoration of these apparitions the Gre-
" cians instituted certain festivals which they called Epiphanies. The Greek church has its
" Epiphany on the sixth of January/' 3
At St. Denis, near Paris, the God Bacchus or Afoj/ixro£ is worshiped under the name of St.
Denis. At Ancona, on the top of the promontory, Bacchus is worshiped under the name of Liber
and Liberius. 4
1 Priestley's Hist Cor. Vol. L p. 336. Speaking of the two classes into which society is divided in Tibet, Mr.
Turner (Travels, p. 25/) says, " Both, united in one common bond of union, the one part to labour, the other to pray,
" enjoy in peace and harmony the fruits of their industry 5 and find it unnecessary to support a single man in arms,
" either to defend their territory or maintain their rights." This is as it should be— the Drones and the Bees ; idle
priests and industrious slaves Here every one moves in his proper sphere I
4 Exercit. 2, An. 1, Num. 36. 3 Gale's Court of Gent Vol. Ill, Bk. ii. Ch. ii. Sect. iii. pp 192, 193.
4 Seveial temples have probably stood together which are now all formed into one church of Gothic architecture.
In a crypt, on the left side as a person enters, is a magnificent sarcophagus of brass, of modern workmanship, with the
words upon it CORPXJS SANCTI LIBERY OONP In the front of it, under the Roman arches, stands an altar, at which
a priest \\ as officiating when I was there. On the wall opposite is a MODERN Latin inscription, which informs its
reader that St Liberius was an Armenian : Liberim ex Armen. Regum stirpe ortus S&c. PL In the word LIBERY
the last letter in one place being Y and in another U, the lower part wanting, proves, notwithstanding the care to
prevent mistakes displayed by the monks in the modern inscription, that this S. LiUerius was no other than Bacclms-
Libei In the crypt on the light side as you enter the chuich is a very ancient sarcophagus of stone This, I suspect,
in former times, hab held the body of the God. It has had two inscriptions, one in the stone now erased with a chisel,
the other in metal, which hab been removed, the marks of the rivets remaining. I suppose the temples under the
decrees of Theodosius, &c , weie all thiown down, and from their ruins the present church was built; and amongst
the ruins were found the fine columns of marble and the sarcophagus with the inscription Corpus S. Libery and, if it
liad any where upon it, as it probably had, or if there was found any where near it, the cross or the monogram of
Bacchus, this would be thought to prove the deceased a Christian confessor. For, as the Christians adopted the
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 11. 85
1 must draw my reader's attention to the fact, that the ancients had their miracles performed at
the shrines of their saints, Divi, just as commonly as the Christians at the shrines of their saints.
The identity of some of the Romish Saints and the Heathen Gods, is in no instance more
ridiculously exhibited than in that of St. Denis or Dionysus, the ancient Bacchus j even Mr.
Faber is obliged to allow it. He says, l
" Dionysus is cut in pieces by the Maenades on the top of Mount Parnassus : Denis is put to
" death in the same manner on the summit of Montmartre. Dionysus is placed on a tomb, and
a his death is bewailed by women : the mangled limbs of Denis are collected by holy females,
" who weeping consign him to a tomb, over which is built the abbey church that bears his name.
Ge Dionysus experiences a wonderful restoration to life, and quits the coffin within which he had
" been confined : Denis rises again from the dead, replaces his severed head to the amazement of
*< the spectators, and then deliberately walks away. On the southern gateway of the abbey, the
tfc whole history of this surprising martyrdom is represented. A sculptured sprig of the vine,
a laden with grapes, is placed at the feet of the holy man : and in all parts may be seen the same
*e tree blended with tigers and associated with a hunting match. Such numerous and close
" coincidences prevent the possibility of doubting the identity of the God Dionysus and the
ef monkish saint Dionysius. Were I more conversant in the hagiographa of the Latin church I
*' might perhaps be able to produce many other similar instances/'
There is no doubt that at the town of St. Denis, the Romans had some kind of a temple to the
Divus Dionysus or Bacchus, whence the ignorance and roguery of the priests made a saint, a
Divus Denis, with all his traditionary adventures.
Near Naples the universe is worshiped under the name of St. Cosmo — Kocrp>£. 2
The custom of putting D. M., for the words Dls Manibus, on monuments and grave-stones, is
continued all over Italy. In the church of St. Clement, at Rome, I observed the actual words
Dls Manibus upon a grave-stone ; the letters had not long been filled up with a hard cement, to
disguise them 5 but they were sufficiently evident. No doubt at every Jubilee, when the churches
are repaired, some remnant of Heathenism is erased.
The way in which the Christians have made their saints is perfectly laughable. An explanation
of them may be seen in Dupuis.3 He shews how they have made their St. Bacchus and Liber,
Dionysius— Eleutherius, Busticus— marked in the calendar, 7th Oct, fest. S. Bacchi, 8th festum
S. Demetri, and the 9th fest. S. S* Dionysii, Eleutherii et Rustici.
In the Dyonysiacs, of Nonnus, the God Bacchus is feigned to have fallen in love with the soft,
genial breeze, under the name of Aura PJacida. Out of this they have made the saints Aura and
Placida. This festival is on the fifth of October, close to the festival of St. Bacchus, and of St.
Denis the Areopagite.
monogram of Bacchus for their monogram, wherever it was found, the ignorant monks, thousands of whom in ancient
times could neither read nor write, immediately determined that it denoted a martyr or confessor of their religion.
The monks were not necessarily in the modern Romish ordeis, and in the early ages of Christianity very few of them
were Bomish priests. As they found it increased their influence they gradually got into the way of receiving the
Romish ordination ; and, as the Popes found them a formidable body, after much quarrelling they formed an union
with them, if indeed the monks did not actually conquer the Popes, and get possession of the Papacy.
1 Pag. Idol. Bk. v. Ch, viii.
4 The particulars of this Saint may be found in a letter published in the Preface to Mr. Payne Knight's book on the
Phallic worship. He was adored with the ancient Phallic rites. In the mean time, when Sir W, Hamilton was at
Naples, great numbers of ex votos of the parts of generation adorned his shrine, which was much frequented by
modern Neapolitan females to procure fecundity, precisely as it had been by the females of antiquity.
* Vol, HI. p 151.
86 BAMBINO AT ROME. DEDICATING CHURCHES, &C., &C.
The ancients had a form of wishing happiness to others, in which were used the words perpetuam
felititatem. Out of these words were made St. Perpetua and St. Felicita. In the same way, from
the words Rogare et Donare, they have made St. Rogatien and St. Donatien. These examples of
their saints exhibit a very striking proof of what I have said respecting the nature of the Romish
tradition — all these histories are traditions. From such traditions the whole fabric was raised. It
could not be expected to be otherwise than as we find it. The President Fauchet, in his Life of
Clovis, J declares ingenuously, that the feasts of the Romish Church were copied from those of
the Pagans : and Polydore Virgil regrets that the feasts are more Pagan than Christian.2
The festival of Martinmas was an exact imitation of the feast of the Romans and the Greeks
called Pitegie which signifies the opening of the wine barrels, which at this time is practised by
the Christians. Thomas Neagorus 3 calls it the second Bacchanalia.
Herodotus4 says, that the Egyptians had a feast in which the ceremony consisted in lighting
numbers of candles in their houses during the whole night, called the feast of lights. This solem-
nity, says Baronius, 5 is also observed by us, having been transferred to the ascension.
I suppose I need not point out the absolute identity of the ancient Saturnalia and the modern
Carnival; no one who has paid the least attention to these subjects can entertain any doubt
respecting them.
As the Christians have a particular saint to whom each day in the year is dedicated, and who
has his particular service for that day ; so the Persians had an angel for each day, and a particular
service containing a compliment to the angel of that day.6
12. As I stated before, to account for the Heathen superstitions in Christian churches, it has
been said, that Gregory the Great directed, in order that the prejudices of the vulgar might be as little
offended as possible by the change, that the missionaries to Britain, &c., should leave the people
in the possession and enjoyment of their festivals, provided they did not actually adore the idols.
How can this be reconciled with the actual adoration of the waxen infant, with the most magnifi-
cent ceremonies, in the churches in Rome, on the first hour after midnight, on the morning of the
25th of December ? This I have myself witnessed. The priests pass the image in grand proces-
sion, each stopping before it, muttering his prayer, going down on his knees, and kissing the toe
of the figure. What was this but the ancient worship continued ?
When the Pagans proceeded to build a temple they performed on the ground a variety of
ceremonies. The head priest presided at the ceremony, and laid the first stone, after a grand
procession. 7 Pieces of gold and silver were laid in the foundation, and the Vestal Virgins or
Nuns sprinkled the place with holy water. All this is closely imitated by the Romish and Protes-
tant churches, holy water by the latter excepted.
The long pilgrimages of the Christians are exact imitations of those of the Pagans, who were
accustomed to frequent the temples of Delphi, Dodona, Diana at Ephesus, Ceres in Sicily, 8
according to vows made by them on emergences.
It is the custom with Christians to make vows on various occasions to build churches. So
Romulus, to arrest the flight of his soldiers, vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator. In like manner
Appius vowed a temple to Bellona. 9
Every one is acquainted with the votive offerings of the ancients :
1 P 124. 8 Lii>. vi* Cap. viii. &e. 3 De Regno Pont. Lib. iv. 4 Lib. ii.
* In the year 58, s. 28. G Hyde; Dupuis, Vol. III. p. 325, 4to.
7 Cicero and Tacitus, Lib, iv. on rebuilding the capital, 8 Vide Cic. ActL 6, in Verreai*
a T. Livy, Lib. x.
BOOK II, CHAPTER II. SECTION 13. 87
Me tabul& sacer
Votiv& paries indicat humida
Suspendisse potent!
Vestimenta maris Deo.1
Again,
Nunc Dea, nunc succurre uaihi, nam posse mederi
Picta docet templis multa tabella tuis.8
This is exactly imitated in the Romish churches of Italy. Some of the churches in Florence
and Rome are actually covered with votive offerings. Sometimes jewels are given, sometimes
pictures of the mode in which some favourite saint has effected a cure, or saved the devotee from
the effect of an accident \ or a model in wax of some limb cured is hung tip 5 and some very
curious limbs may occasionally be seen,
Our long prayers and litanies are exact imitations of those of the Pagans, and are directly in
defiance of the command of Jesus Christ. " When ye pray/' says he, " use not vain repetitions,
" as the Heathen do ; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." (Matt. vi.
7«) How directly this is against the Romish t( Kyrie, Eleeson ; Christe, Eleeson; ora pro nobis;
"Domine, exaudi nos $"* and our "Lord have mercy upon us/1 in our litany and repetition of
creeds, &c, ! All this is an exact imitation of the prayers to Baal, described in 1 Kings xviii. 26,
Baal, exaudi nos9 which they cried from morning to noon. Thus the Romish devotees count
their Paters and the repetition of their Credo, and Ave, Maria, &c., exactly like what Tertullian
says of the Pagans — that they think to force heaven with their crowd of prayers, Thus again, in
the Protestant Litany, the repetition of the prayer to the Lamb of God is taken from the service
of the ancient Carnutes of Gaul.
13. The ancient Roman children carried around their necks a small ornament in form of a heart,
called Bulla. This was imitated by the early Christians. Upon their ancient monuments, in the
Vatican, the heart is very common, and it may be seen in numbers of old pictures. After some
time it was succeeded fay the Agnus Dei, which, like the ancient Bulla, was supposed to avert
dangers from the children and the wearers of them. Pope Urban V. sent one to the Emperor of
the Greeks with the following beautificl verses :
Balsaraus et munda cera cum chrismatis und&
Confidant agnum quod munus do tibi magnum.
Fulgura desursum depellit, omne malignum
Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis et angit.
Prsegnam serrate, simul et partus liberatur.
Dona defert dignis, virtutem destruet ignis.
Portatus munde* de fluctibus eripit undre.
Cardinal Baronius 3 says, that those who have been baptized carry pendant from their neck an
Agnus Dei, in imitation of a devotion of the Pagans, who hang to the neck of their children little
bottles in form of a heart, which serve as preservatives against charms and enchantments. And
as these bottles were made in form of a heart to shew that man could not exist without a heart $
so the Christians carry the image of the Iamb, to learn from its example to be humble of heart.
This is the heart which the reader has seen in the figures of India, of Greece, and of Rome,
noticed in Vol. I. pp. 146, 572. It seems to me, however, that the origins of both the heart and
the agnus were equally unknown to the Cardinal. But he was probably right in supposing them
talismans.
• Horace, Lib. i. Ode v. * Tibull. Lib. i, Eleg. iii,
3 Ann. Eccles. en 1'ann. 58,
88 BULJLA. AGNUS DEI. ANGELS. DJEMONS.
For the manufacture or blessing of these Agni Dei a long ceremony is usually performed by the
Pope on the day called the Sunday in A Ibis. l
As the supreme God Braraha was surrounded with good and bad angels, or, as they are called
in the Brahminical religion, Dewtahs, with some of the latter of whom Cristna the saviour made a
war ; so with the Persians the Supreme God had his good and bad angels, the latter constantly
aided by the destroyer Arhiman, at war with the Supreme Being. Here we see the prototype of
the Christian doctrine of the devil and his fallen angels at war with God, and working in every
way in their power for the destruction of man. The book of Enoch gives the fullest account of
the doctrine of angels. As the genuineness of the book is not doubted, that is to say, as it is not
doubted to be the real book referred to by St. Jude, and as he was inspired, I do not clearly see
how his authority can be denied by Christians. In the Hindoo work called the Mahabarat, a very
long account is given of the wars of Cristna with the rebellious Dewtahs and Assoors. The
Hindoo and Persian doctrine of angels and devils, is alluded to in the Epistle of Jude, to which
I have just referred.
Stanley also shews that the existence of angels, and of good and bad daemons, was ad-
mitted. He shews that daemons were held to be of many kinds, and to be corporeal : " Those
" daemons are of many kinds, and various sorts, both as to their figures and bodies, insomuch that
" the air is full of them, as well that which is above us, as that which is round about us. The
" earth likewise is full, and the seaa and the most retired cavities and depths."
Mr. Colebrook says, that the Vedas throughout teem with prayers and incantations to avert
and repel the molestation of aerial spirits, mischievous imps, who crowd about the sacrifice and
impede the religious rite.2 This was precisely the doctrine and belief of the early fathers of the
Romish Church.
In the first Liturgy of Edward VI. Anno 2, the following form of Exorcism was ordered in
baptism : " Then let the priest, looking upon the children, say, I command thee, unclean spirit, in
66 the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out and depart from
" these infants, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to call to his holy baptism^ to be
" made members of his body and of his holy congregation. Therefore remember^ thou cursed
" spirit, remember thy sentence, remember thy judgment, remember the day to be at hand
" wherein thou shalt burn in fire everlasting, prepared for thee and thy angels. And presume not
" hereafter to exercise any tyranny towards these infants, whom Christ hath bought with his
" precious blood, and by this holy baptism called to be of his flock." This, on the remonstrance
of Bucer, was afterwards omitted. 3
The sign of the cross, though made by a Jew, Infidel, or Pagan, was offeree to drive the devil
from one. 4 Pope Alexander ordained that holy water should be tempered with salt, and used ad
fugandos dsemones, to drive away devils. (Platina in vit& Alexand.) 5
But the Persians not only had angels and wars of angels agaiost God, similar to those of the
Christians, but they actually had the same names^ (as I have somewhere read, though at this
moment I cannot recollect where,) such as Gabriel, Michael, Uiiel, &c.
1 Vide Cerem Rom. i. Sect. 7; also Hospiniaa Festa Christianorum, p. 76, A. D. 1612.
s Astion Vol. I. p 5/8
3 The seventy-second canon of the Church of England thus expi esses itself on Exorcism: " No minister shall,
*' without the licence of the bishop of the diocese, first obtained and had under his hand and seal, attempt, upon any
*' pretence whatsoever, either of obsession or possession, by fabting and prayer, to cast out any devil or devils, under
** pain of the imputation of imposture or cozenage and deposition from the ministry." — Beverley's Book, xxv.
* Bellarmin de Imaginibus Sanet, Cap. xxx ; Hog's Hist, of Cornwall, p. 468. * Hog's Hist, ut supra.
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 14. 89
The followers of Mithra always turned towards the East, when they worshiped ; the banie is
done by the Brahmins l of the East and the Christians of the West. In the ceremony of baptism,
the catechumen2 was placed with his face to the West, the symbolical representation of the
prince of darkness, in opposition to the East, and made to spit towards it at the evil one, and
renounce his works. 3
Tertullian 4 says, that Christians were taken for worshipers of the Sun because they prayed
towards the East after the manner of those who adored the Sun. He says the same in his book,
Ad Nat. Lib. i. Cap. xiii. 5 Mr. Reeves says, the Christians worshiped towards the East because
the altar was there : but why was the altar there, but because the East was the symbol of the
good Deity — in opposition to the West, the symbol of the Evil One ?
To this day, in most English Churches, at particular parts of the service, for instance in the
repetition of the Creed, those persons who do not happen to have their faces turned towards the
altar or the East, always turn to it ; of the reason of this they are probably ignorant.6 The
Essenes always turned to the East to pray. Prideaux, in his Life of Mahomet, says, the Jews
always turned to Jerusalem to prayr wherever they might be.8
f( Quod attinet supradictos Christianos Armenos ad Solem se flectentes, de ejusmodi Christianis
" etiam suo tempore conquerebatur Leo Papa (Serin. VII. de Nativitate Christi) Prisdllianistas
" arguens de cultu Solis. Ut sol exurgens — a quibusdam inslpientil/us de lods eminentiorihus
" adoretur. Quod nonnulli etiam Christiani aded se religiosb facere putant, ut prmsquam ad D*
" Petri Basilicam perveniant, superatis gradibus,~-converso corpore, ad nascentem se Solem reflec-
'* tant, et curvatis cervicibus, in honorem se splendentis orbis inclinent," 9 This proves the
mixed worship of Jesus and the Sun, which Leo was striving to abolish. Hyde, in the preceding
page, shews, that the Armenian Christians were also in the habit, while turning to the Sun to offer
their prayers, of constantly crossing themselves.
14. It appears that the Christians were accused by the Heathens of being worshipers of the
Sun. Tertullian, in reply to an accusation of this kind, tells us, that the Sunday was celebrated
by them in opposition to the Jewish Sabbath, and not because it was consecrated to the Sun.
This was evidently a contrivance to evade the charge. The reason assigned by Justin Martyr 10
that Sunday was celebrated because it was the day of Christ's resurrection, would not have been
deemed satisfactory 5 for the Heathens would have replied, " Certainly it was on the Sunday, the
" day of the Dominus Sol, the Lord's-day, as you call it, because on that day the resurrection of
" the Dominus Sol— ^the Saviour — was always celebrated in the Mithraitic caves."
This contrariety seems to shew that neither Justin nor Tertullian knew any thing about the
matter, any more than they did about the statue of Sangus, which they took for a statue of Simon
Magus.
In Sect. 9, the day of meeting of the Essenes is stated to be Saturday ; but this feast lasted till
sun-rising. In Sect. 17 it is also stated, that they worshiped toward the Sun at its rising. It
seems the night was spent in singing hymns, &c. As soon as dawn appeared, they retired to their
1 Maur. Ind. Ant. Vol. II. p. 9?. * Tertull. p. 221. 3 Justin, Reeres's Trans, note, Sect* 79, p. 96.
4 Apol. Cap. xvi. 5 Clemens Alex. (Strom. 7>) and Origen say the same.
6 See Parkhurst, pp. 634, 736. 7 P. 93.
8 He refers to Daniel vi. 10; Buxtorfii SyrJfc^a Judaica, Cap. x.$ Maimonides in Halacboth Tephillah, Cap. i
Sect. 3.
» Hyde, de Rel. Cap. iv. p. 107, ed. 1760. 10 Apol. I. Sect. 89.
VOL. II. N
90 SUNDAY, DIES SOLIS. VARIOUS CUSTOMS.
cells, after saluting one another. From the account in Pliny it appears the Christians of Bithynia
met before it was light, and sung hymns to Christ as to a God. But the words imply, that they
met very early in the morning. Surely the circumstances of the two classes of people meeting
before day-light is a very remarkable coincidence. It appears that after their service they saluted
one another. This custom is continued in our churches to this day. Every person salutes his
nearest neighbours, though it would probably be difficult to get a reason from any one for doing it.
It is the remnant of the old custom \ so is bowing at the name of Christ, l and turning the face to
the East at particular parts of the service.
Justin no where calls the Sunday the Sabbath-day, but ^epa re fyis, the day of the sun.
And it is very curious that Constantine, after he pretended to be converted to Christianity,
ordered the day Domini invicti Solis, to be set apart for the celebration of peculiar mysteries to
the honour of the God Sol.
A very long and terrible schism took place in the Christian Church upon the important question,
as I have remarked in page 59, whether Easter, the day of the resurrection, was to be celebrated
on the 14th day of the first month after the Jewish custom, or on the Lord's- day afterward ; and
it was at last decided in favour of the Lord's-day. But terrible wais took place before this most
important affair could be settled.
Besides the above almost an infinite number of small coincidences might be pointed out, each
trifling and of little or no moment when taken by itself, but which, in the aggregate, is of very
considerable importance. The multitude of the inferior Gods of the Heathens are well matched
by the Saints of the Christians : they were thought to be endowed with the same limited powers,
and to act as mediators between man and the Supreme Deity, and were equally honoured with the
epithet divus. The Gods of the Heathens were fond of high places, and equally so are the Saints
of the Christians ; to some one of whom almost every mount and every fountain was dedicated.
Each town had its patron and protecting tutelar God, it has now its patron and protecting Saint —
to whom, in a peculiar manner, in all moments of distress, of plague, pestilence, or famine, the
inhabitants address their prayers. Scarcely a church exists in Italy in which the numerous votive
tablets do not bear witness to the active and miraculous interference of the tutelar saint.
The Vialcs or Compitales fixed at the corners of the streets, to whom the games called Com-
pitalicii were celebrated, yet remain under the name of a Madonna or some favourite saint — as
the Madonna Dolerosa, or Divus Petronius, &c. $ generally ornamented like the ancient compi-
tales with flowers. In Sicily the Madonna Vialis is seen with a bunch of ears of corn in her
hand. By a decree of Augustus the Compitales were ordered to be honoured with garlands of
flowers, These are part of the Lares or household Gods, and are to be met with in every house
in Italy : and to them, as was customary in ancient times, the Calabrian shepherds come into
Rome a few weeks before the winter solstice to play on the pipes.
Ante Detim matrem cornu tibicen adunco
Cum canit, e?igiue quis stipis aera neget>4
i The Chiistians of Bitliynia met, it appears, before it was light, because they were afraid to hold their religious
assemblies in open day, lest theii enemies should asbault or seize them. Their salutation at parting was piobably that
\vhich Paul (Rom xvi. 16) recommended— their mutual danger increasing their mutual attachment, Salutations were
frequently, as they still are, expi eased by wilting or orally. Such are those to our neighbours and friencjs— expressive
of courtesy or of regaid. " Bowing at the name of Jesus" appeals to have been introduced from a belief in his Deity,
and from its being supposed to be required, by what St. Paul says to the Philippians, (ii, 10,) where sv would, perhaps,
be more correctly rendered by in than by at*— Editor.
* Ovid's Epist. i. /. 11.
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 14. 91
When to the mighty Mother pipes the swain,
Grudge not a trifle for his pious strain.
No person can have spent a winter in Rome withoat having been often awakened before day-
break, by the beautiful and plaintive airs of these simple shepherds on their bagpipes. *
A remnant of the Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres is &till retained in the festival of St, Agatha in
Sicily- The same horse-races are continued, the same processions made by friendly societies,
(the sodalitates of antiquity,) in which the image of the saint, on a triumphal car, and the sacred
relics, are borne about with wax lights of an enormous size, precisely as was usual in the pro-
cessions in honour of Ceres. The procession takes place on the fourth day of the festival of the
saint, as it did on the fourth day of the festival of Ceres. At the conclusion of the festival in
each case, the sacred relics, which were only shewn on those occasions, were offered to the people
to kiss $ and, finally, as the Eleusinian mysteries were celebrated twice a year, in spring and in
autumn, so are the festivals of St. Agatha.
The numerous names of the Gods of the Heathens are closely copied by the Christians, The
ancient Romans had the Jupiter Tonans, Jupiter Sponsor, Jupiter Capitolinus, &c., &c. j then
Venus Calva, Venus Verticordia, Venus Capitolina, &c., &c. The modern Romans have their
St. Pietro in Vaticano \ St. Pietro in Vinculo j St. Pietro in Carcere, &c., &c. 'y Sa. Maria degli
Angeli > Sa. Maria della Consolazione ; Sa. Maria dell* Anima, &c., &c., to the number, as stated
under her image at Loretto, of upwards of forty names : and in the same manner as the temples
were sometimes dedicated to several ancient Divi or Gods, so the churches are sometimes dedicated
to several modern Divi or Saints. The temple of Vesta is now the church of the Madonna of the
Sun9 fire being the prevailing idea in. both appellations. That of Romulus and Remus is now the
church of Cosmo and Damien — twin brothers. The temple of Bacchus or the St. Liber, on the
promontory of Ancona, is now the church of the Holy Liberius descended ex stirpe regum Arme-
niorum. The church of St. Denis, near Pans, has succeeded to the temple of Dionusos. The
Romans had a tradition, that Anna Perenna, the sister of Dido, was cast ashore near the Numi-
cus, in which she ultimately drowned herself, and of which she became the protecting nymph.
She is succeeded by Sa. Anna, the sister of the Virgin, to whose name the epithet Petronilla is
added, for some unknown reason.
The Heathens constantly erected temples as votive offerings to their Gods, as was the case with
the temple of Jupiter Tonans, erected by Augustus, out of gratitude for his escape from lightning
which killed several of his attendants ; and so are Christian churches : for instance, the church
Della Salute, erected in memory of the deliverance of Venice from plague in 1586. The ancient
temples and modern churches are equally built to record certain events or to receive certain
sacred deposits. Their walls, in ancient as in modern times, were ornamented with pictures. a
The images in each case were equally loaded with finery, jewels, paint, &c., and kept in sacred
recesses with curtains before them* The temples in ancient, like the churches in modern times,
were open from morning to night, with a small intermission at noon. The ancient sacrifice is
succeeded by the sacrifice of the mass : the attending boys in white tunics are continued as in,
ancient times. The Mozzetta and Sottana of the priests, from the latter of which our cassock is
taken, are both dresses of the priests of antiquity. The subject of the ancient sacrifice was called
Hostia; the modern mass, Ostia,
The custom of using the aspersorio to sprinkle the people with holy water before the mass
begins, the chaunting of the service, the ringing of little bells during the ceremony, are all Pagan
The real Scotch bagpipe. * See Pausanias passim.
N2
92 SUNDAY, DIES SOWS. VARIOUS CUSTOMS.
usages. The ceremony of putting ashes on the head, on Ash-Wednesday, is a continuation of
the festival of the Fordicidia, which was celebrated at Rome on the 15th and 21st of April. The
Catholic modern processions are exact imitations of those of the ancients, which were Attended
with music, tapers, successions of images, companies of attendants, streets hung with tapestry,
&c., &c. The mendicant monks are merely a continuation of the priests of Isis, who, like them,
lived by begging, and were great dealers in relics of the Gods, and who often pretended to possess
the bodies of the Gods. The priests of Isis had their dresses made precisely of the same fashion
as those of the Franciscan Monks : the sandals are the same. The tonsure of the prie&ts of Isis
and Serapis, or the practice of shaving the crown of the head, so as to leave only a ring of hair,
is exactly continued by the modern monks. In short, the Franciscan Monks are evidently the
priests of Isis.
The ceremony at Rome on Good-Friday, called the "Agonie," is nothing more than the Pagan
ceremony alluded to in Scripture, * called the women weeping for Tammuz. The charms or
amulets of the ancients are still strictly continued in Italy by all classes of people. The funerals
are also in many respects the same as those of the ancients. The Protestant practice in England
of throwing three handfuls of earth on the coffin, and saying, earth to earthy ashes to ashes, dust to
dusty is a copy from the ancient Egyptians, 2 and the continuation of a Pagan ceremony, to satisfy
the Gods below, in which the priest threw earth three times upon the body— " injecto ter pulvere
curras."3 The ancient offerings made at the sepulchres of friends are now succeeded by the
sacrifice of the mass, for which payment is made to the priest. It is a sacrifice of prayer and
incense, and is more or less expensive in proportion to the wealth or poverty of the deceased. In
short, the ceremonies of torches, holy water, prayers for the dead, and the other forms used at
funerals in many Christian countries, are nothing but imitations of similar customs observed by
the Pagans ; so that, in fact, there is not a single ordinance of the Christians which they can
properly call their own ; all is a servile imitation of the much- abused and calumniated, though,
like Christians, in many respects blameable, Pagans.
The Jews fasted, and flogged themselves in the temple ; the votaries of Isis did the same. In
Trans, Acad. Ins. An. 1746, Tome IV., it is shewn, that almost all ancient nations had the practice
of fasting.
The Persians used incense after the manner of the Jews, copied by the Christians,4
For nearly the whole of this section the Author is indebted to a small treatise on the ancient
Customs of Italy and Sicily, by Mr. Blunt, of St. John's, Cambridge. Much more of the same
kind might be discovered \ but why multiply .examples, when the case is proved usque ad
nauseam ?
In the front of most of the churches in Rome are placed very large obelisks or single pillars.
Man is no doubt an imitative animal, and these may have been raised, by the modern Romans,
merely out of imitation of their ancestors ; but I am inclined to believe, that they were raised for
the same reason that all the Pagan ceremonies which I have described were adopted — their Pon-
tifex Maxinms, &c. They were a part of the esoteric ancient religion, and, a& such, were adopted.
Two of these obelisks, covered with hieroglyphics, are ascertained not to have come from Egypt ;
but the hieroglyphics are said to be forgeries. Then why were they raised \ and why were the
hieroglyphics placed upon them ? Did the modern Romans understand the hieroglyphics ? I do
not believe that they would be at the expense of engraving them, merely to pass off the obelisks
as Egyptian, as, at the time that they were done, every one must have known of the forgery.
» Ezek. viii. 14, » Spineto, p. 148. 3 Horace, Lib. i. Ode xxviii. /. 36, 4 Hyde, de Bel, Vet. Pers. Cap. iii, p. 99.
BOOK II. CHAPTER II. SECTION 14. 93
Then what are we to make of them ? I can scarcely believe that the hieroglyphics are known in
the conclave \ but it is next to imposible to ascertain what, is known there. It is very certain,
that if the knowledge of these hieroglyphics be a religious srcret, a masonic secret, no attempt to
discover it would be successful. For, if a Pope or Cardinal \\ere to violate his oath, (without any
object of self-gratification as it would be,) he would be rendered infamous; and the strong-nerved
arms of millions of monks would be ready with their daggers instantly to give him his reward.
If any man were to violate such a becret, I have no doubt that hundreds of priests in Rome would
be ready to teach -their fanatical devotees, that it would be the highest of all meritorious acts to
assassinate or poison such a man. These obelisks were Lingas, adopted for the same reason that
all the other rites and ceremonies of Heathenism were adopted.
In reply to what I have said a certain class of persons will exclaim, Oh, but these are nothing
but the abuses of the Papists ! But I think my reader will soon be convinced, if he be not
convinced already, that between the Protestants and Papists there is very little difference. The
priests of the latter have been obliged to give up certain absurdities which they found their flocks
would no longer tolerate, keeping some as great as any they surrendered, and indeed keeping all
as long as they possibly could. The Athanasian Creed and part of the service for the ordination
of priests is as bad as any thing which the Papists profess. The truth is, that the Romish religion
is nothing but a renovation of the old Pagan or Gentile religion, and the Protestant is only a part
of the latter. But neither of them can properly be called the religion of Jesus of Nazareth, as
I shall shew in a future book.
The fact of the identity of the Christian and Gentile rites and ceremonies has been so evident
that the Romish writers have not been able to deny it, but have been obliged to have recourse to
explanations. Baronius1 says, " It is permitted to the Church to use, for the purposes of piety,
" the ceremonies which the Pagans used for the purposes of impiety in a superstitious religion,
" after having first expiated them by consecration — to the end, that the devil might receive a
" greater affront from employing, in honour of Jesus Christ, that which his enemy had destined for
" his own service/5 I suppose it is for this reason that the Romish Church has not any dogma,
rite, or ceremony, which is not Pagan I ! !
Polydore Virgil, who was much praised by Baronius and other learned men of the Roman
Church, who call him a celebrated historian, and say that he was well instructed, and drew his
information both from the ancients and moderns, says,2 that the church has taken many customs
from the religion of the Romans and other Pagans, but that it has rendered them better, and
employed them to a better purpose,
Fauchet, in his antiquities of Gaul,3 avows, " That the bishops of that kingdom employed every
" means to gain men to Christ, availing themselves of their ceremonies, as well as of the stones of
" their temples to build their churches/*
Eusebius, in the Life of Constantine, admits that he, for the sake of making the Christian
religion more plausible to the Gentiles, transferred to it the exterior ornaments which they em-
ployed in their religion. Pope Gregory L, surnarned the Great, who, Platinus says,4 was the
inventor of all the ecclesiastical service, followed this method, as every one fcan see, by the in-
struction which he gave to a priest called Augustin, whom he sent into Britain to convert the
English. "It is not necessary," said he, "to destroy the temples5 of the idols, but only the
" idols, and to substitute the holy water, to build altars, and to deposit relics. If their temples
1 An. 36 of the Annals. * Baron. Vol. IX. an. ?40, Sect. 15; Pol, Virg, Lib. v. Cap, i.
3 Liv. ii, Ch. xix. 4 In Vit& Greg. I. * Greg, in Regist. Lib, ix, Epist, 71.
94 SUNDAY, DIBS SOUS. VARIOUS CUSTOMS.
" have been well built, it is proper to divert them from the service of daemons to the service of the
" true God, in order that the Pagans may be more easily induced to come to worship at the places
" where they have been accustomed." He added, " That in the place of sacrificing beasts, they
" should hare festivals to the saints or to the founders of the churches, and thus celebrate religious
"banquets; that thus having the use of some exterior observances they should be more easily
" drawn to the interior doctrines."
But how completely is this in opposition to the doctrine of Paul, that evil should not be done
that good might ensue j (Rom. iii, 8;) to his advice to the Corinthian converts to flee from ido-
latry ; (1 Cor. x. 14;) and to that of John, " Little children keep yourselves from idols" ! (I Ep. v.
21.) And how much at variance is it to the praise given by St, Ambrose to Theodosius, when
calling him another Josias for destroying the temples of the infidels ! l Kow completely different
is all this from the known practice of the first Christians, who would rather submit to be torn to
pieces by wild beasts, than place even a faprig of laurel over their doors on a Pagan festival !
Besides, how absurd is it to suppose that the feingle corrupt order of a Gregory should be able to
engraft into the Christian religion not only the festivals but the doctrines and the sacraments, and
the most obscure and abstruse metaphysical doctrines of the Pagan religion ! The cause is not
commensurate with the effect, and some other cause must be sought.
It is said that those superstitious practices were not adopted in the earlier times of the church,
but were introduced afterward in the middle and dark ages. In order to form a correct judgment
upon this point, it may be useful to ascertain at what time the Pagan superstitions actually ceased.
It is well known that they had been laid aside in all the great cities as early as the time of Theo-
dosius, and that they were banished to villages in remote situations, whence their followers were
designated by the opprobrious name of Pagani. Now as it is improbable, and actually contrary
to common sense to suppose, that a considerable interval should have intervened after the cessa-
tion of those superstitions of the Pagans, and their renewed adoption by the Christians, in com-
pliance with the vulgar prejudices of the former, it follows that they could not be the produce of
the dark ages of monkish superstition and ignorance. To take an example : Romulus was
thought by the Heathens to be peculiarly favourable to young children, and it was the custom at
Rome to present them at his shrine, to be cured of their complaints ; afterward when the temple
was converted into a church, it was dedicated to Saint Theodorus, who had been, like Romulus,
exposed in his infancy, and therefore was supposed to be particularly fond of young children, who
yet continue to be brought to his shrine to be cured of their diseases. When they recover, a
miracle is alleged to have been performed \ when they do not, the reason assigned may probably
be, that the saint is not propitious to the parents. This exhibition is not in a remote place, but
in the centre of the Papal city.
Now, as Theodosius destroyed or converted into churches such of the Heathen temples as
Constantine had spared, this Christian superstition can hardly be dated later than the time of the
former, and therefore it cannot well be attributed to the middle ages. Besides, if the almost soli-
tary act of Gregory may be pleaded for a few of the local customs of Britain, it is perfectly incom-
petent to account for all the numerous Pagan doctrines and rites which have been pointed out in
this work. It is evident that the story of Gregory, though perhaps very true, is a mere subterfuge,
and is by no means adequate to account for the well-known facts, of the continuation of the Pagan
rites and superstitions.
Theodoret, Hist. Eccles. Lib v Cap. x,\.
( 95 )
CHAPTER III.
BETHLEHEM, BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. — BIRTH, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF ALL THE GODS, — PASSOVER.
— LAMB OF GOD. — GENTILE CRUCIFIXION. — JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT CRUCIFIED. — JEWISH INCARNATION.
— PYTHAGORAS. — OBSERVATIONS.
L I SHALL finish this branch of my subject by shewing, that the birth, death, and resurrection of
the body of the incarnate God, was common in almost every temple of Paganism, and that he
was not only put to death, but also that he suffered on the cross., and rose again from the dead.
It is impossible to move a step in the examination of the rites and ceremonies of this religion
without meeting with circumstances of greater or less importance connected in some way or other
with the religion of Mithra or the Sun. .Emm, where John baptized, was sacred to the sun, l and
had a temple dedicated to it. 2 Again, when Christ was born, he was sought for and worshiped by
the Magi, who had seen his star in the East. Here is an evident allusion to astrology, properly so
called, as distinguished from astronomy, — the calculation of nativities by the stars, which in all
ages has been closely connected with magic and necromancy. The magi having arrived at Beth-
lehem, directed not by A star but by HIS star,3 made their offerings, and celebrated with pious
orgies, along with the angels who appeared at the same time, the nativity of the God, the Saviour,
in the stable where he was born : but the stable was a cave, and it is still more remarkable, though
it has never been pointed out by priests to their gaping congregations, that at THAT very time,
the 24th December, at midnight, throughout all the Mithraitic caves of Persia, and in the temples
throughout all the world, the same orgies were really in the act of being celebrated to the honour
of the God law—the Saviour, And it appears that these orgies did not cease for very many years
after the death of Jesus, according to St. Jerom, in this very cave, and if we may believe Dr.
Lightfoot, they may not have ceased to this time. The latter says, "Eusebius reports that
" Bethlehem, from the times of Adrian to the times of Constantine, was profaned by the temple
" of Adonis : for the asserting of which he cites these words of Paulinus: Hadrianus, supposing
" that he should destroy the Christian faith by offering injury to the place, in the place of the passion,
66 dedicated the image of Jupiter, and profaned Bethle/iem with the temple of Adonis : as also like
" words of Hierome : yet he confesses the contrary seems to be in Origen against Celsus : and
" that more true. For Adrian had no quarrel with the Christians and Christianity, but with the
" Jews, that cursedly rebelled against him/' 4
Of Bethlehem Jerom says, " Bethleem nunc nostram, et augustissirnum orbis locum de quo
" Psalmista canit.5 Veritas de terra orta est, lucus inumbrabat Thamus, id est, Adonidis : et in
"specu ubi quondam Christus parvulus vagiit, Veneris Amasius plangebatur," 6 And Clarke7
tells us, that the Christian ceremonies in the church of the nativity at Bethlehem are celebrated
1 See Vol. L p. 110. 8 Bryant, Heath, Myth. Vol. I. p. 51, 4to.
» Every Amid or Desire of all Nations had a star to announce his birth to mankind. Thus Abraham, Caesar, &c.,
had each his star.
* Lightfoot, Vol. II. Chap. li. p. 48, folio ed, * Psa. Ixxxiv. 12.
G Hieronymus, Epist. ad Paulin, p. 564. 7 Vol. IV.
96 BETHLEHEM, BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST,
to this day in a CAVE, and are undoubtedly nearly the same as they %vere celebrated in honour of
Adonis in the time of Tertulhan and Jerom j and as they are yet celebrated at Rome every Christ-
mas-day very early in the morning.
From the fact, seemingly here established, that the temple of Adonis existed at Bethlehem
before the time of Adrian, as it is admitted by the learned and Rev. Dr. Lightfoot, it is very
probable that it must have existed before the time of Jesus ; and the possession of droves of swine
by the Gergesenes, and many other circumstances, induce me to suspect, that the religion of the
Canaanites and the Phoenicians never was entirely abolished, but tolerated in different parts of
the country among the descendants of the original inhabitants. If this should be found to be the
case, I can readily believe that Magi, Magicians, Necromancers, came from a distance on a
pilgrimage to worship, and to celebrate the rites of, the new-born God and Saviour ; and that
shepherds from the mountains should also have assembled there, precisely at the same day and
hour, as they yet do at Rome for the same purpose, every 24th of December. Indeed, it is
probable that something of the kind happened every year, at this season, at the shrine of Adonis.
The leader will recollect what was said before by the well-known oriental Christian, Abulfara-
gius or Bar Hebrseus, l that there was a prophecy in the oracles of Zoroaster, " That a sacred
" personage should issue from the womb of an immaculate Virgin, and that his coming would be
" preceded by a brilliant star, who&e light would guide them to the place of his nativity." 2 It
is pretty clear that this is a copy from the Gospel histories, or that the Gospel histories are copies
from it, or both from a common mythos. And it must be observed here, that the story of the
Magi is contained in a part of the Gospel history which the Nazareens, Ebionites, Marcionites,
Socinians, and most of the modern Unitarians, maintain to be spurious. If one be a copy from
the other, which is copied must be left to the reader. After all that he has seen he will pro-
bably find little difficulty. This prophecy is evidently alluded to in the Gospel of the Infancy,
which says, speaking of the Magi guided by a star, Quemadmoduni praedixerat Zorodustht —
as Zoroaster had predicted. This Gospel was received by the Nestorians, of whom Buchanan
says, there are now about 50,000 in Malabar.3 It is a striking circumstance, that the gifts
brought by the Magi, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, were what were always offered by the Arabian
Magi to the sun.
This prophecy is again noticed by Chalcidius in the third century. Commenting on the Timaeus
of Plato he says, "Stella quam a Chaldaais observatam fuisse testantur ; qui Dcum nuper natum
muneribus venerati sunt— a star which is attested by Chaldean astronomers, who immediately
hastened to adore and present with gifts the nevi-'x>rn Deity/'4 Chiistians have wished to make
a Christian of Chalcidius, but the way in which he speaks of this Chaldean tradition, or whatever
it was, shews clearly enough what he was. The observations of Chalcidius were probably made
upon the story of the three Magi, who, according to Pinto, came from the East to offer gifts to
Socrates at his birth,, bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 5 One or both, or the union of the
two stories, may have formed a foundation for the story of the three kings coming to Herod ;
and they have probably both derived their origin from the Hindoo religion. This story of the
Magi having been applied to Socrates, by Plato, evidently proves that it was part of the ancient
1 Hysteria Dynastarum, p. 54, ed. Oxon, 1663. Although I have given the substance of what will be found here
from Abulfaragius, I think it expedient to repeat it. See Vol. I. p 56 L
* Maur Ind. Sceptic confuted, p 50 3 P. 136 * Maur. Ind Seep, confuted, p. 62.
* This story of Plato's I cannot point out in his works, but I was told it by a most respectable clergyman at
Cambridge.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 1. 9<p
mythos of the renewed incarnation now lost. We have seen that it is found in Babylon, in Athens,
and in Syria, and very nearly the same in India.
M. D'Hancarville1 says, "Les Hymnes attribues a Orphee, mais rgdiges par Onomacrite plus
" de 500 ans avant notre ere, sont des especes d'oraisons, que Scaliger croit avoir £te recitees
" dans les myst£res.. Ce livre singulier est reconnu par un docteur en Sorbonne, pour
" £tre le plus ancien de tons ceux oii il est parle de 1'Immaculee Conception de la Vierge (Sura,
" ill 88) appelee Bibi-Mariam, ou la Dame Marie, par les Turcs, comme elle est appelee
" Notre- Dame, par les Chretiens. Ces derniers, eniployant a &a louange les prieres qu'ils rejpetent
" sur le chapelet, en ont sanctifi6 1'usage apporte de Foment au terns des Croisades, avec le dogme
" de la Conception Inimaculee. Mohamet le prit des Scythes on des Tartares ; Scythes, le
«* chef de cette nation, etoit fils d'une Vierge, suivant Diodore. 2 On pretend aussi que le Dieu
** LA des LAMAS est 116 d'une Vierge : plusieurs princes de 1'Asie, entr' autres TEmpereur Kien-
" long, aujourd'hui regnant k la Chine, et qui est de la race de ces Tartares Mandhuis, qui
" conquirent cet empire en 1644, croit, et assure lui-m£me, £tre descendu d'une Vierge/' I
have no doubt that the whole mythos exists in China, and that it formerly existed in the books
of the Jews, from which it was taken after the Christian aera, because the Christians applied
the passages to their Messiah — a fact which has been very satisfactorily proved by Mr. Whiston.
Benjamin Constant says, *c Ce syst£me se rapproche sous quelques rapports de la doctrine
tfe Indicnne sur les incarnations successives qui ont lieu toutes les fois que Dieu veut faire con-
" noitre aux hommes la verite. II est assez remarquable qu'on retrouve une idee analogue dans
" une hypothese Juive. Les Juifs attribuent la m£me ame a Adam, & Abraham, et a David, et
" croyaient que cette ame sera celle du Mebsie. Ils pr^tendaient encore qu'il ne fallait point
" distinguer filie de Phin&s, fils du grand pretre Eleazar, et que le prophete qui a v6cu parmi
(( les hommes, tantdt sous le nom de Phines, tantdt sous celui d'filie, n'^tait point un homme,
" mais un ange toujours le m^me qui s' incarnait pour donner ses conseilb au peuple de Dieu.*' 8
Mr. Faber, 4 speaking of the prophecy of Zoroaster, which I have formerly noticed, says, cff The
" Magi of Persia had a prophecy handed down to them from Zeradusht, (Zoroaster,) that a Virgin
" should conceive and bear a child; that a star should appear at noon-day and lead them to it.
" You, my som, exclaimed the seer, will perceive its rising before any other nation. Js soon there-
" fore as you shall behold the star, follow it whithersoever it shall lead you; and adore that
" mysterious child, offering him your gifts with profound humility. He is the almighty WORD,
" which created the heavens."
Now, Mr. Faber truly contends that this prophecy cannot be a Christian forgery, among other
reasons, because it is found with the ancient Irish ; whose history states, that it was made by a
Persian called Zeradusht, and that it was brought to them by a Daru or Druid of Bokhara, The
actual identity of the rites and tenets of the Irish with those of the ancients of the East, as well
as their existence in Ireland previous to the Christian sera, has been so clearly proved by Borlase,
Davies, Vallancey, &c., 5 that no more need be said about it. " Therefore," says Mr. Faber,
" this cannot be a Christian forgery." The first consequence which seems to follow from this
well-founded argument is, that Zeradusht was a prophet, and that his work, the Zendavesta, must
be admitted into the canon of the church. This not suiting, Mr. Faber supposes that the Persian
must have seen the prophecy of Balaam or some other of the ancient prophecies, and have adapted
it to his system ; but he very wisely omits specifying which prophecy, as neither that of Balaam
1 Res. sur 1'Origine, &c., p. 186. * Bibl. Lib. ii. * Benj. Constant, Vol. I. p. 171.
* In Hist. Orig. of Pagan Idol. Bk. Hi. Ch. iii. * And by myself in my Celtic Druids, pp. 278, &c.
VOL. If.
98 BETHLEHEM, BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST.
nor any other says a word about it : for though Balaam speaks of a star to arise out of Jacob, he
says nothing like the story of a star coming from the East and guiding any persons.
Mr. Faber's mode of accounting for the history may be very satisfactory to the person who is
blessed with a lively faith $ but the story is plainly nothing but a part of the ancient mythology
of the Magi and Brahmins respecting Cristna $ who was believed to be an incarnation of the
Supreme Being, of one of the persons of their holy and mysterious trinity— to use their language,
the Lord and Saviour — three Persons and one God.
Mr. Faber's argument to prove the antiquity of this prophecy, as given at length in his book,
seems quite satisfactoi'y.
The reason why the three Magi who came to adore Jesus at his birth were called kings was,
because the heads of the Magi were always called kings. It was a title of honour, like what we
have in our Heralds' Office, Kings at Arms. " De non assumendo sacerdotio, testimonium dat
" Cicero, in libro De Divinatione referens : ( Nemo potuit esse Rex, antequam coluerat disci-
" 'plinam Magorum : nee magis ut quisque esset Magus quam ut esset Rex.* Istorum itaque
« erat non tantum reges in recta religione instituere, sed et eos inaugurare, ut in Christianismo
" fieri solet"1
"Ex hujusmodi Persarum Magis, celebriores aliqui fuerunt illi qui nostrum Salvatorem
" Christum in infantia visitatum venerunt ex Perside in Bethlehem."2
" Ab isto itaque Rege missi sunt (vel saltern, eo haud inscio, venerunt) Magi. Nam qu6d
" Persis revelata fuerit Christ! nativitas, certi suraus ex Evangelio : et praterea plerique autores,
" iique doctiores, idem statuunt." 3
The real skulls of the three kings of the Magi are to be seen at Cologne ; they were called Caspar,
Melchior, and Balshazzar. It may here be observed, that the Magi were an order of men, not a
nation, as is vulgarly imagined.
It has been before observed4 that the Trinity of Plato was correctly the Trinity of Jesus, as
described in the Gospel of John, and that the two accounts travelled pan passu, until they arrived
at the famous verbum carofadum est. This is just as much a part of the Trinitarian system as
the remainder, as is proved by the Brahmin history of the incarnation of Cristna, from which it
was evidently originally taken. The idea of an incarnate God being among us now in modern
times few persons (the followers of Johanna Southcote cxcepted) can entertain] but it was
common to all ancient nations. Osiris, Bacchus, Adonis, were all incarnate Gods : taught by the
priests ; despised by the philosophers ; believed by the rabble. They were probably all derived
from the story of Cristna born in the eighth month, which answers to our December, on a Wed-
nesday at midnight, in the house of Vasudeva, his father, and JDevaci, 5 his mother*0
Thus the verbum carofadum est is not peculiar to the Christians, but was in fact acknowledged
in almost every nation in the world. This was the Logos of the Persians and the Greeks, whose
birth was originally fixed to the moment of the winter solstice. This Logos, we have seen,7 was
the second person of the Trinity — the lao of the Gentiles.
Tertullian, Jerom, and other fathers of the church, inform us, that the Gentiles celebrated, on
the 25th of December or on the 8th day before the calends of January, the birth of the God Sol,
under the name of Adonis, in a cave, like that of Mithra, (in Persia Mithra ; iu Egypt, Phoenicia
and Biblis, Admis,) and that the cave wherein they celebrated his mysteries was that in which
i Hyde de Rel. Vet. Pers. Cap. xxx. p. 373. * Ib. Cap* xxxi. p. 381. 3 Ib. p. 385.
< Vol. I. pp. 121, 160, 62?. & Ib. p. 139. 6 Maur. Brara. Fraud, exposed.
» Vol. I, pp. 119— 122.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 1. 99
Christ was born in the city of Bethlehem, or, according to the strict meaning of the word Beth-
lehem, in the city of the house of the sun.1 This God Adonis is really and literally the Hebrew
word pK Adn9 yet retained in the Welsh Celtic Adon^ 2 which is translated into Latin Dominus,
into Greek Kopfo^, and into English Lord, the peculiar name of honour given to Jesus Christ.
On this day, at the moment of its commencement, the followers of Mithra began to celebrate
the birth of their God. He was born in a grotto or cave precisely as Jesus Christ was. For
though, in our Gospels, he is said to be born in a stable, yet in the holy land, at Bethlehem, the
place exhibited is a cave. The stable no doubt was in a cave. The early fathers of the church
acknowledge that the most probable of all the suppositions of the Pagans respecting the origin of
the religion, was that of those who derived it from the Persians.
The same God was believed, by the inhabitants of Persia, Asia Minor, and Armenia, under the
name of Mithra, to have been born in a cave on the 25th of December, to have been put to
death, and to have risen again on the 25th of March. In their mysteries the body of a young man,
apparently dead, was exhibited, which was feigned to be restored to life. By his sufferings he
was believed to have worked their salvation, and on this account he was called their Saviour.
His priests watched his tomb to the midnight of the vigil of the 25th of March, with loud cries,
and in darkness 5 when all at once the light burst forth from all parts, and the priest cried,
Rejoice, oh sacred initiated, your God is risen. His death) his pains, and sufferings have worked
your salvation. 3
In every case the God is supposed to become incarnate: in ' every case the place in which he
was actually born was exhibited to the people. The night of the 24th December the Persians call
the Night of Light. Stukeley observes, that the worship of Mithra was spread over all Gaul and
Britain. The Druids kept this night as a great festival, and called the day following it Nollagh
or Noel,4 or the day of regeneration,5 and celebrated it with great fires on the tops of their
mountains, which they repeated on the day of the Epiphany or twelfth night. The Mithraic
monuments, which are common in Britain, have been attributed to the Romans, but this festival
(in consequence of its being kept by the Druids) proves that the Mithraic worship was there prior
to their arrival. The Romans took nothing from the Druids, but on the contrary persecuted them,
and put all whom they could make prisoners to the sword.
At the first moment after midnight of the 24th of December, all the nations of the earth, by
common consent, celebrated the accouchement of the Queen of Heaven, of the Celestial Virgin of
the sphere, and the birth of the God Sol, the infant Orus or Aur, the God of Day, called by the
Gentiles the hope and promise of all nations, the Saviour of mankind from the empire of Ahriman
and darkness.
The Egyptians celebrated the birth of the son of Isis on the 25th of December, or the 8th day
before the calends of January. This Eratosthenes says was the God of Day, and that Isis or
Ceres was symbolical of the year. The son of the Holy Fvrgin, as they called Ceres, was Osiris :
lie was born on the 25th of December. At his birth, Plutarch says, that a voice was beard, saying,
" On this day is born the supreme Lord of the universe, the beneficent king Osiris." On this day,
at the same moment, the Romans began to celebrate the feast of the Brumalia in honour of the
1 Dupuib, Tome III. p 51, ed. 4to.
* And, fi om this word, all the rivers called Di>n have derived their names.
3 Dupuis, Vol. II, p, 194 ; Vol. III. pp. 41, 51, 62, 84.
4 Noel is the French »ame for Christmas-day. * Vail, Coll. Hib. Vol. III. p, 464.
o2
100 BIRTH, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION O# ALL THE GODS.
birth of the God of Day— of the Sol invincible— Natalis Soils invicti— described in vast numbers
of very old pictures in Italy, with the legend Deo Soli, perhaps mistaken by the monks, and thus
retained ; or perhaps having a secret meaning.
It is remarkable that we have very few examples of infant Gods among the Greeks and Roman s,
though we have them in innumerable instances in Egypt ; but I suppose them ail to have been
converted into Madonnas. I have no doubt whatever that great numbers of the examplars of the
BLACK Mother and Child were infant Jupiters, or at least infant Gods 5 indeed, I should think
every one of them : for, wherever there was a black child painted on an old wall, if it were
renewed, it was painted like its predecessor black. This I myself have seen done in Italy. Cicero
says,1 " Is est hodie locus septus religiose propter Jovis Pueri, qui lactens cum Junone Fortunes
c< in gremio sedens mammam appetens, castissimS colitur a matribus." Bryant notices an inscrip-
tion in Gruter : 2 Fortune Primigenise Jovis Pueri, D. D.
Again, Bono Deo Puero Posphoro,3
All the boy Gods which were not destroyed, were adopted as Bambinos.4
Nothing is more common in the North of England for the sign of an inn, than the black boy. I
very much suspect, that the little Negro, as he is always described, is an infant Cristna.
Perhaps it may be thought by some, that the observations which I shall have to make on the
celebrated lamb of God ought to have come here, but on consideration I have judged it better first
to make a few observations on the resurrection.
2. Throughout all the ancient world we have seen that the birth of the God Sol, under different
names, was celebrated on the 25th of December,5 the day of the birth of Jesus. Thus, in similar
accordance with the history of Jesus, the God Sol, on the 23d of March, was, by one means or
another, put to death : and exactly three months succeeding the 25th of December, viz. on the 25th
of March, he was believed to be raised to life again ; and his resurrection was celebrated with
great rejoicings.
The most important of all the different parts of the complicated system of Christianity, are the
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his Resurrection from the dead. It will now be my duty to shew
whence the collectors of traditions drew these particulars respecting him ; where the great men,
the venerable fathers, who believed that there were four Gospels because there were four winds —
that men were raised from the dead ssBpissim& — that boys were denied and girls became pregnant
by demons— found these traditions, and applied them to a person said to be put to death in
Judea.
The reader has already seen that Jesus was mistaken for lao or the Sun, and that all the Gods
—Bacchus, Osiris, Hercules, Adonis, &c., were personifications of that great luminary. As Jesus
and lao were both born on the 25th December, it follows that as Jesus rose again on the 25th of
March, the Vernal Equinox, after being cruelly put to death ; so the different incarnations of lao,
from whom his birth was copied, should be found to have been put to death in a similar manner :
and this we shall presently find was exactly the fact.
The resurrection of the human body to life and immortality, which was one of the leading
doctrines of the Persian Magi, is of such an artificial nature, and includes in it so many circum-
stances apparently contrary to the evidence of our senses, that it is the acme of absurdity to
suppose, that two nations should arrive at the same result by any common chain of reasoning.
De Divin. Lib. iL 41. * Ixxvi. n. 6 and n. 7- 3 Gruter, hcxxviii. n, 13.
See Bryant's Anal Vol. I. p. 125. * Dupuis, Vol. III. pp. 1 1?, 1 18. ed. 4to.
BOOK II, CHAPTER III. SECTION 2, ]Q1
Hence it is evident, where such coincidence is found one must have copied from the other, or they
must have drawn from a common source.
It must be recollected that it is not the mere resuscitation of a person newly deceased to life :
it is the re-collection of the parts of a body long since reduced to a mass of filth and corruption,
or scattered in dust by the winds or waves, eaten by animals of various kinds, and thus by be-
coming component parts of them, and converted by man to the support of his life, they form fresh
subjects for resurrection to immortality— each part by some miraculous process unknown to us
still supporting its identity : each man, though by this process forming parts of thousands of other
men, and they again parts of thousands or millions of others, still retaining his absolute original
identity, and the thousands or millions whose bodies had been partly composed of his body or of
the bodies of each other in succession, all, like the original first man, rising to life and immortality.
The subject is appalling : the divines say, when pressed upon it, that at the resurrection the body
will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, into a spiritual body. As the word spirit is in meaning
exactly the opposite of the word body, substance, or thing, they may as well say, that a some-thing
will be raised to life and immortality in the form of a no~ihing. But we must leave this to the
divines j those of them are the wisest who pronounce it a mystery, and therefore beyond our
comprehension — a thing to be believed, not to be discussed or reasoned about.
We are told by Diogenes Laertius, that the ancient Persians or the Magi believed in the
resurrection of the body. To go no further, his evidence is unquestionable. But the following
extract from Beausobre1 will place the matter out of the reach of doubt :
** The Sadduceeism of Manes did not consist certainly in denying the existence of spirits, (des
" esprits,) their immortality^ and the punishments and rewards after death. So far from this,
" that Sharastani puts among his dogmas not only that thought, but that the sensible faculties of
" seeing and hearing are never lost. It follows, then, that he could not have denied the resurrec-
" tiou of the body. In fact, the Magi believed in the resurrection, as Diogenes Laertiua testifies.2
" It was one of the articles of the religion of Zoroaster.3 Mr. Hyde had no doubt that the Magi
" had taught the resurrection of the dead \ and, besides the testimony of the ancients, whom he
" produces to confirm it, he cites a relation which had been sent to him from the Indies, in which
" the ancient faith of the Persians is explained and the resurrection positively taught.4 If I am
" asked, what idea the Persians had of the resurrection, I answer, that, apparently, they had the
" same idea as the Jews : with bodies, the same as at present ; with the same organs ; the
" same animal functions ; (I know not any that were excepted ;) to drink, to eat, to have women :
" to live a tranquil and delicious life upon the earth, purified by fire, was the hope of the Persians,
" as was that of the Jews, who never spoke so clearly of the resurrection as since they were
" captive with the Assyrians. It is only since that time that the sects of Pharisees and Sadducees
« existed."
Here we see the resurrection of the dead proved to have been the doctrine of Zoroaster or of
the Persians, upon evidence of the most unquestionable kind. It seems impossible to doubt the
fact. This is not a mere future state of life \ it is the actual resurrection of St. Paul, with a real
i Tome II. Liv. ii. Ch. iv, p, 204 a Diog. Laer. in Proem.
s Idem p 383 " Credunt etiam resurrectionem mortuorum, et ultimum judicium, in quo bom a mails distinguentur,"
&c , Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. Cap. xxviii. p, 355.
4 Idem p, 293, and Appendix, p. 53?.
102 BIRTH, DKATH, AND RESURRECTION OF ALL THE GODS.
body, but yet with a spiritual body, i. e. a body purified by fire, as it is here described. It is an
exact picture of the enjoyments of the Christians during the expected Millenium, and the reign of
Jesus upon earth for a thousand years — the Hindoo renewal of the cycle of the age of gold.
But a belief in the resurrection was not confined to Persia; it extended, like the doctrine of the
immaculate conception and solstitial birth, to every nation in the world.
Osiris was cruelly murdered by his brother Typhon, on his return from a progress in which he
had performed many great actions for the benefit of mankind. The place of his burial was claimed
by different provinces of Egypt. Relics of him were shewn in the temple of Philse. To swear by
those relics was the most sacred oath of the Egyptians. l In their caves or the adyta of their
temples they annually, during the mysteries of Isis, celebrated the misfortunes and tragical death of
Osiris, in a species of drama, in which all the particulars were exhibited 3 accompanied with loud
lamentations and every mark of sorrow. At this time his images were carried in procession
covered, as were those in the temples, with black veils.2 On the 25th of March, exactly three
months from his birth, his resurrection from the dead was celebrated, as already mentioned in
reference to other Gods, with great festivity and rejoicings.
The birth of Horus, the son of Isis, was also celebrated, in another part of Egypt, like that of
Osiris, and at the same time. His death and resurrection were, in a similar manner, celebrated
on the 25th of March. They were the same Gods, in fact, only under different names. 3 This
was the reason why these religions seldom occasioned any intolerance, persecution, or religious
wars.
The birth-place of Bacchus, called Sabazius or Sabaoth, was claimed by several places in
Greece ; but on mount Zelmissus, in Thrafce, his worship seems to have been chiefly celebrated.
He was born of a virgin on the 25th of December; he performed great miracles for the good of
mankind ; particularly one in which he changed water into wine \ he rode in a triumphal proces-
sion on an ass \ he was put to death by the Titans, and u>se again from the dead on the 25th of
March : he was always called the Saviour, 4 In his mysteries, he was shewn to the people, as an
kfant is by the Christians at this day, on Christmas-day morning in Rome. On the 23d of
March, the dead body of a young man was exhibited, with great lamentations, and on the 25th
it was supposed to be revived, 5 when grand rejoicings took place, as in the other instances already
specified.
In Crete, Jupiter Ammon, or the Sun in Aries, was painted with the attributes of the equi-
noxial sign of the lamb. This Ammon, who, as Martianus Capella informs us, was the same with
Osiris, Adonis, Atys, &c., had his tomb and religious mysteries ; and, though I have not foand
so much respecting his birth, death, &a, as of some of the others, they were probably all alike.
Apollo had his tomb at Delphi, where his body was deposited after he had been killed by Python.
Three women bewailed his death, analogous to the three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James, and Salome, who bewailed the death of Jesus. He was called the Logos, the
light which had come into the world to enlighten it. Python was the great serpent of the pole,
which annually brings back the autumn, the cold, the snow, and darkness — over which Apollo
* Maur. Ind. Ant. Vol. III. p. 214, 8vo* ed.
* At this time of the year the images in Italy are all covered, in like manner, with black veik, even to this day
jiny one may see who will go thither a little before Easter.
* Dupuis, Vol. II. Liv, ii. Pt. ii. p. 194. 4 Ib. pp. 195, 197, and notes. •> Ibid.
BOOK II. CHAFFER III. SECTION 2. 103
triumphs when he returns to the sign of the lamb at the vernal equinox, thus restoring the
empire of light, with all its blessings. Pythagoras engraved on this tomb some mysterious
verses, l which proves that he was a devotee or follower of this God, who was Apollo of Claros,
of whom I have formerly treated.2 The three Marys, of whom we read so much, were known in
Gaul long before the time of Christ ; and in England, for there is an altar at Doncaster, Tribus
Matribtts, tribus Mariebus. 3
Three Goddesses, called Mair<z, were worshiped at Metz. 4
In front of a temple at Metz was the following inscription :
" In honore Domfts Divi
Naedis Mairabus
Vicani vici Pacis" &
In the following extract, from an anonymous author, the same story is shewn to exist in India :
" The Eleusinian mysteries are applicable to the mythological account of Buddha, the son of
" Maya, who, as the God of Love, is named Cam-deo, Cam, and Cama : signifying * desire :'
" evidently the Grecian Eros : in this character, the Hindoos profess that he aimed an arrow
ee from his flowery bow, at the heart of the supreme God, Maha-Deo : for which offence he was
" punished by a flame of fire descending and consuming his corporeal nature. Then follows a
" procession of priests, who accompany his widowed consort : the beloved Keti, who bears an
" urn, containing the ashes of the God, amidst the tears and lamentations of the people. Heaven
" and earth are said equally to lament the loss of * divine love:' insomuch that Maha-deo was
" moved to pity, and exclaimed, * Rise, holy love P on which Cama is restored, and the lamenta-
" tions changed into the mofat enthusiastic joy, The heavens are said to have echoed back the
" exulting sound, that the deity, supposed to be lost, was restored, e hell's great dread, and
" heaven's eternal admiration.9 **
" Thus M&ru is the worldly temple of the Supreme Being, in an embodied state, and of the
" Trimurti or sacred Triad, which resides on its summit, either in a single, or threefold temple, or
" rather in both, for it is all one, as they are one and three. They are three, only with regard to
" men involved in the gloom of worldly illusion : but to men who have emerged out of it, they are
" but one : and their threefold temple, and mountain with its three peaks, become one equally,
" Mythologists in the West called the world, or Meru9 with its appendages, the temple of God,
" according to Macrobius, This worldly temple is also considered, by the followers of Buddha,
** as the tomb of the son of the spirit of heaven, whom I conceive to be the first man, re- emerging
" in every calpa, or the first lawgiver, often confounded with the first man. His bones or limbs
*< were scattered all over the face of the earth, like those of Osiris and Jupiter Zagrseus. To collect
" them was the first duty of his descendants and followers, and then to entomb the*n. Out of filial
" piety, the remembrance of this mournful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one, with all
" possible marks of grief and sorrow, till a priest announced, that the sacred relics were at last
ce found. This is practised to this day by several Tartarian tribes of the religion of Buddha : and
" the expression of the bones of the son of the spirit of heaven is peculiar to the Chinese, and some
" tribes in Tartary/* c The latter part of this passage identifies the worship of Buddha with that
of Osiris, Adonis, Bacchus, and the other Western Gods, whose followers observed this ceremony.
1 Dupuis, Vol. II. Pt, ii, pp. 2, 195. * Vol. L pp. 324, 3'2& * Ibid, pj>, 310, 593.
4 Montf. Ant Explained, Pt. ii, Liv. v, Ch. v.
4 Trans. Acad. Ins. Anno 1733,> 35. [See a nearly similar inscription in tLe Author's^/ volume, p. 310.
Asiat. Res. Vol. X, p, 129.
s
104 PASSOVER.
It is peculiar to the worshipers of the Bull. The Lamb, Hercules, or Cristna, was slain, but his
bones were never in this manner collected.
The same account is given of Atys. His worship prevailed more particularly in Phrygia.
Various histories were given of him in different places, but all terminated in the usual way with
his being put to death, and being raised to life again on the 25th of March. As Jesus was said to
be suspenses in ligno, so was Atys. It is useless to enter into particulars ; they may be found
WITH ALL THE AUTHORITIES cited by Dupuis under the head Atys;1 as may those of Osiris,
Mithra, Bacchus, &c., under their respective heads. It has, I think, been sufficiently proved, that
Bacchus and Hercules answered to the Buddha and Cristna of India, and that the Western nations
uere only copyists of those of the East. If the reader will turn back to Volume I. pp. 144, he
will see there, that Cristna was made " perir sur un bois fatal (un arbre), ou il fut cloue d'un coup
de fl£che, et du haut duquel il predit les maux qui allaient fondre sur la terre."
Certain priests of the Church of England account for the location of the birth of Jesus Christ
on the same day as that of Adonis, Mithra, &c., by saying, that it is known not to have been his
actual birth-day, but that it was adopted by the church the more readily to draw the Pagans to the
true faith. The only answer necessary to be given to these persons is, that those of them who
have any information at all upon the subject know9 that the question of the day was a subject of
great dispute among the early Christians, and THEY KNOW also very well, that the reason they
assign has not a word of truth in it.
In ancient authors we constantly read of the burials and funeral obsequies of the Heathen Gods,
and we are told that their bodies were interred at different places. Now I think this is a mistake9
and that these obsequies were only the originals, and, in fact, were precisely of the same nature
as the obsequies of the Romish Church for deceased kings and popes. At the time I am writing
this, those rites have been celebrated for the deceased Pope Leo the Tenth at various places in
Christendom. Except the great Pyramid, where the bones of the Beeve were found, be one of
them, I have never met with the ruins of any monument which could be considered those of one
of the Gods.
3. The resurrection of Christ was fixed precisely to the time of the Passover of the Jews, of
which passover I shall now treat*
Cedrenus fixes the primitive creation to the 25th of March. The first day of the first month,
he says, is the first of the month Nisan, which answers to the 25th of March of the Romans.
In this day Gabriel gave the salutation to Mary to conceive the Saviour. On the same day the
God, the Saviour, rose again from the dead — that day which the ancient fathers called the passover
or the passage of the Lord. The ancient fathers fixed the second coming of the Lord to take place
on the 25th of March. Cedrenus represents Christ as having died in the nineteenth year of Tibe-
lius, on the 23d of March, and to have risen again on the 25th. From this comes the custom,
he says, of celebrating the Passover on the 25th of March, On this day the true light rose from
the tomb. Though the festival of the resurrection is now on the Sunday after the full moon of
the equinox, it was formerly on the 25th of March, as Cedrenus asserts. This is confirmed by
Theodore of Gaza. 2 This festival is known iu the writings of the fathers by the name pervigilium
paschce* St, Augustin has a sermon entitled, De Esu Agni in pervigilio Paschae. " It is on this
" day," says this father, " that the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world is slain for the
" salvation of man. On this day our gates ought to be marked with blood. Let us prepare for
" the immolation of the Lamb." Isidore, of Seville, speaks in the same manner of the Pervigi-
1 Asiafc. Res. Vol. X. * Dupuis, Vol. III. p. 56.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 3. 105
Hum Pascha. Lactantius says the same thing, and fixes the middle of the night for the rising of
Christ from the tomb. Constantine was accustomed to cause the town where he was at this time
to be illuminated, so that it was as light as noon- day.
The following passage from Georgius will shew, that the crucifixion and resurrection of Buddha
took place precisely at t/ie same time as all the others ; In plenilunio men sis tertii, quo mors Xacae
accidit.1
Sir William Drummond has endeavoured to shew that the Mosaic account of the creation, in
Genesis, and also various other parts of the Pentateuch, had allegorical meanings, and were de-
scriptive of the correction of the ancient calendar, which, in consequence of the precession of the
equinoxes, had fallen into great confusion, and had caused great confusion also in the mysteries
and festivals of the Jews. It seems from almost every part of his work, that previous to the time
of Moses the Bull must have been the equinoctial sign, though it may, perhaps, have ceased to be
so for some time. The signs of the Zodiac, taken as the standards of the tribes, and Taurus, Leo,
Aquarius, (or the man carrying water,) and Scorpio, being evidently the signs of the equinoxes
and solstices, are a proof of it. The four equinoctial signs in the chariot, as it is called, of Ezekiel,
is another proof of it.
The signs of the Zodiac, with the exception of the Scorpion, which was exchanged by Dan for
the Eagle, were carried by the different tribes of the Israelites on their standards ; and Taurus,
Leo, Aquarius, and Scorpio or the Eagle, the four signs of Reuben, Judah, Ephraim, and Dan,
were placed at the four corners — the four cardinal points — of their encampment, evidently in
allusion to the cardinal points of the sphere, the equinoxes and solstices, when the equinox was
in Taurus. Aben Ezra says, that the cherubim in the temple had also the faces of those four
signs. See Parkhurst's Lexicon. These are evidently the cherubim described by Ezekiel, and
also the beasts described by John, full of eyes before and behind, and having the likenesses of a
a Calf, a Lion, a Man, and an Eagle, All these coincidences prove that this religious system had
its origin before the Bull ceased to be an equinoctial sign, and prove also, that the religion of Moses
was originally the same in its secret mysteries with that of the Heathens— or, if my reader like it
better, that the Heathen secret mysteries were the same as those of Moses.
It is also clear that the equinoctial sign mu&t have changed from Taurus to Aries, before Moses
ordained that the beginning of the year should open with the month Nisan, I can scarcely con-
ceive how any proof can be more convincing of the change which Moses was carrying into
effect.2
If any unprejudiced person would read the accounts of the plagues of Egypt, the passage of the
angel over the houses of the Israelites, when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain, the hard-
ness of Pharaoh's heart, &c., &c., and give an honest opinion, he certainly must admit that they
are absolutely incredible. Then what are we to make of them ? The fact is, they are parts
of an astronomical allegory — if not invented, at least compiled or written about the time allotted to
the reigns of the first three kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, The whole history of the plagues,
&c., keeps pace very well with the Labours of Hercules, the Conquests of Bacchus, the Argo-
nautic Expedition, &c, ; each literally believed by the people, and each in its literal sense despised
by the CHIEF priests, whose object in that age, as in this, was and is to keep mankind in ignorance
and darkness.
Sir Wm, Drummond has shewn very satisfactorily that the feast of the Passover, veiled under
the story of the Exod from Egypt, is nothing more than the Egyptian festival which was cele-
1 Georg Alph. Tib. p, 510. * See Dupuis, Vol. Ill, p. 240.
VOL. II. P
106 LAMB OF GOD.
brated at the vernal equinox $ l in which,, under one emblem or allegorical personage or another,
two natural events were celebrated— the triumph of Ormasdes over Ahriman, of light over dark-
ness, the ascension of the God Sol from the lower to the higher hemisphere 5 and the passage of the
vernal equinox from Taurus to Aries. The same allegory applies with great truth and precision
to both ; and J am quite certain it was meant for both.
The same festival we also found in the Yajna sacrifice of the Hindoos.2
In the accommodation of the history of the Exod from Egypt to the passage of the Sun, we
have a striking example of the mythic spirit. When we consider that this passage festival of the
Sun is celebrated at the same moment with the Jewish festival, with nearly the same rites and
ceremonies by almost all the nations of the world, and we consider also the way in which the
triumph of the sun is celebrated in them all by a history of human actions, how is it possible to be
blind to the identity of that of the Jews with all the others ? In all of them the secret object of
the festival was to celebrate the praises of the sun, or of that higher principle of which the sun is
the emblem and shekinah.
The universal dissemination of this worship is worthy of the most attentive consideration. We
have already seen that in Hindostan and Britain the procreative power of nature was celebrated
on the day of the vernal equinox by Phallic rites, Huli festivals, May-poles, and April fools, and is
even yet continued in these extreme points of East and West — of India and Britain — where the
young girls with their swains little suspect the meaning of their innocent gambols — gambols
xvhich, if our devotees understood, they would view with horror. On the same day, in Persia, as 1
have just observed, the triumph of the Good over the Evil principle took place, the triumph of the
victory of Light over Darkness, of Oromasdes over Ahriman. At the same time in Egypt,
Phrygia, Syria, were celebrated the deaths and resurrections of Osiris, Atys, Adonis. In Palestine,
again, we find on the same day the Jews celebrating their Passover, the passage of the equinox
from the sign of the Bull to that of the Ram, or of the Sun from the inferior to the superior
hemisphere $ and, to conclude all, on this day we Christians of Europe still continue to celebrate
the victory of the God Sol, known to all the nations above enumerated by his different names — by
us, " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world"— on Easter Sunday having
risen to life and immortality, triumphing over the powers of hell and of darkness.
4. Although the identity (not the similarity merely) of the modern systems of Christianity and
the systems of the ancient Persians, and other worshipers of the God Sol, must be admitted, and
indeed cannot be denied $ yet many persons may have a difficulty in forming au idea how or by
what steps the two systems became amalgamated or consolidated ; so as either to form an ima-
ginary human personage in one case, or in another case to attach themselves to the character of a
real human being, or a divine person who appeared on earth in the shape of a human being* It is
very certaiu that the same circumstances which took place with respect to the Christian religion,
took place in the religions of Bacchus, Hercules, &c., in former times. Histories of these persons
with miracles, relics, circumstances of locality, suitable to them, were as common, as well authen-
ticated^ and as much believed by the devotees, as were those relating to Jesus Christ, And where
can be the difficulty of conceiving, that that should happen again, which we know from experience
has happened before ? To this it may be replied, that though it may be believed to have taken
place, yet the means by which it has been effected are not so apparent. No person can be very
much surprised that the modus operandi should not be very apparent, who gives due attention to
the indisputable fact, that the priests, with all the powers on earth at their disposal, have been
OEd. Jud, Dissertation *m the Paschal Lamb. * See Vol. I. pp. 260, 38.9, 446, 584, 718,
BOOK II* CHAPTER III. SECTION 4. 107
employed for fifteen hundred years, in garbling, forging, and suppressing evidence, to prevent this
modus operandi from being discoverable : but, notwithstanding all their efforts, a reference to
some of the facts which have been detailed in this work will in a great measure remove the diffi-
culty. Until the time of Luther and the Protestants, tradition was the grand support, and indeed
the most powerful of all the engines used for the raising of the Romish Christian edifice. This
engine was discarded by the Reformers, because their object was to take down part of the building,
not to increase it 5 and the only difficulty was, to know where to stop — to know how much or
how little was to be removed without endangering the whole edifice. It was evident that if they
allowed the powerful engine tradition to remain, that edifice was impregnable. The Romish
priests were well aware of the importance of their engine, and therefore exerted all their ingenuity
to protect it : and for this purpose they found it expedient to give up some part of its power to
secure the remainder. It is evident that nothing can be more liable to abuse than tradition. The
tradition which the Jesuit of the present day will describe as the tradition of the church, is very
different indeed from the tradition which was in reality used in the early ages of darkness. Every
idle rumour circulated by ignorance and credulity became tradition, if it happened to suit the views
of the priests. The frightened rabble, genteel and ungenteel, always timid in proportion to its
ignorance, had not the most distant idea of any thing like biblical criticism. In order to secure
its salvation, this rabble was only anxious to believe enough. It might believe too little, it could
not believe too much. This cause operated in the ancient religions, as much as in the modern.
Dr. Hyde x justly observes, that the ancients, always fearful of believing too little, kept constantly
increasing their rites and ceremonies from surrounding nations. " Existimando melius esse
" religione su£ abundare, potius quam in aliqua* ejus parte deficire sic enirn erat eorum mos, nova
" quaevis amplecti, eaque veteribus accumulare." This was exactly the case with the Christians.
This cause is extremely powerful, and is the more dangerous because its power is not easily
perceiveable. This cause continues to operate as really as it ever did in former times, and exactly
in proportion to the ignorance of the people. And it is evident that it \vill continue to operate so
long as belief or faith is held to be a merit : for, if belief be meritorious, unquestionably the more
a man believes, the more he merits ; therefore to make salvation secure, it is wise to believe as
much as possible— to believe every thing. If a person believe every thing, he must believe the
the truth— which can only be a part of every thing — of the whole.
Notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of the priests, for the last two thousand years, to
eradicate every trace of the means by which their various doctrines, rites, and ceremonies, have
been established ; yet they have not entirely succeeded. Circumstances, apparently trifling in
themselves, may sometimes be met with which have escaped their vigilance, and which will
enable the impartial and unprejudiced inquirer to form a pretty correct idea how such of them,
as he cannot discover or exactly point out the origin of, may have been produced. Remains of
the ancient superstitions may occasionally be observed, on which most of the rites, ceremonies,
and doctrines, have been founded ; and the priests seem to have overlooked the circumstance,
that the ordinances themselves for the destruction of others of them, if remaining, would serve
to prove the fact of their previous existence, in a way fully as satisfactory as if we had them now
before us.
The adoration by the ancients of the celestial bodies, and in its turn of the constellation or
sign of the* Zodiac, Aries, or the Ram, is so well known that it is »6edle&s to enlarge upon it.
M. Dupuis, in his treatise, Sur tous les Cultes, has settled this matter. The manner in which
this constellation came to be personified, or applied to the person of Jesus, may, at first, be
De Rel. Vet. Pers, Cap. vii. p. 189.
108 LAMB OF GOD.
difficult to conceive. Like almost every thing connected with religion, this effect was not pro-
duced by design, but by accident : that is, by the favourable combination of unforeseen circum-
stances*
This constellation was called the Lamb of God. He was also called the Saviour, and was
said to save mankind from their sins. He was always honoured with the appellation of Dominus
or Lord. He was called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world* The devotees
addressing him in their litany, constantly repeated the words, O Lamb of God, that taketh aivay
the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Grant us thy peace. T
The following passage of Frickius de Dmidis will prove that " the Lamb that taketh away
" the sins of the world" might very well be prophesied of by the Sibyls before the time of Christ.
It will also complete the proof that the Jesus of the Roman Church was no philosopher of Samaria
in the time of Tiberius. It proves also that our Litany is part of the ancient Pagan ritual, and as
such gives it a new degree of interest.
"Rena dico adniirabilem, omni tarnen fide dignam, quani faciunt antiquissima Carnuten&is
" ecclesise monumenta fastique, ac qui ex illis erutum tanti prodigii memoriam typis vulgarunt
" probalissimi scriptores 5 et in recentioribus quidem P. FRANC. POYRAEUS, acii judicio vir,
"integritate singular!, ac teneia in Deiparam pietate insignia, qui triplicem coronam, quae hodie
" est omnium in manibus, pio sane et religiose artificio excellentissiaioe, potculissim®, optima?
" matri contexuit.
(e Itaque sic a majoribus acceptum referunt : signum Carnutensis virginis, quod hodieque visitur,
" quondam , excisum esse in sacra Carnutum sylva, et Prisci regis, procerumque illius gentis
" unanimi consensu per Druidum manus, sanctiore quodam in antro collocatum, ac consecratum
" virgini pariturce : sive id mysterium ex oraculis Sibyllinis aut propheticis intellexerunt, sive
" acceperunt divinitus, extraordinarily revelatione. Moriens Priscus coronas ac ditionis suss
" Carnutensis heredem scripsit virginem parituram. Quae autem occasio novae illi religione fecerit
" initium, ita narratur :
" Quum inter Gallos magna quaedam exorta esset dissensio, nullaque interposita magistratuum
" auctoritate graves irae sedarentur, ac jam eo ventum esset, ut otnnia publicis contentionibus labe-
" factata pessum ruerent, cuipiam viro gravi, ad restinguendum tantum incendium, si quis alius,
" idoneo, imago co3litus est oblata, cujus in basi hsec inscripta verba : AGNUS DEI, aui TOLLIS
" FECCATA MUNDI, MISERERE NOBis. Hanc ille imaginem quuin Gallis, qui in unum convenerant,
" palam ostendisset, pauca, qusc sibi monstrante Deo, revelata fuerant, prsefatus, sic dercpentfc om-
** nium animos affecit permovitque, nemo ut abeunduni sibi domum putaret, priusquam rcconci-
" liata pax esset. Ergo alii alios arete complexi, sibi invicem, quiquid peccatum erat, condona-
" runt. Porro ad perennem tam fortunatae reconciliationis memoriam, PARITURJE VIRGINIS
" IMAGINEM EXPRESSERUNT, quam summo deinceps honore sunt prosequuti, Hacc fer^ RIGOR-
66 DIITS." l
Of this remarkable passage, I submit the following translation :
" I will relate an extraordinary circumstance, which, however, is worthy of all credit, on the
authority of the most ancient monuments and annals of the church of the Carnutes, and of the
most approved writers, who have thence derived and printed the records of so great a prodigy »
Among the more modern of these authors is P, Francis Poyrseus, a man of acute judgment, of
singular integrity, and remarkable for his affectionate piety towards the Mother of God 5 who, by
1 Oa an ancient medal of the Phoenicians brought by Dr. Clarke from Citium, noticed iu Vol. I. p, 224, he it,
described with tlie cross and the rotary, which shew that they were both used in his worship.
* Frickius de Druidis, Cap. x. pp. 99, 100,
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 4. ]Q9
a pious and ingenious artifice wove the triple crown which is in every body's hands, for the most
excellent, most powerful, and best of mothers.
" It is thus related, as handed down from antiquity— that an image of the Carnutensian Virgin,
which is seen to this day, was formerly carved in the sacred grave of the Carnutes, and, with the
unanimous consent of king Priscus and the nobles of that nation, was placed, by the hands of the
Druids, in a certain holy cavern, and dedicated to the Virgin of the Conception. This mystery
they either learned from the Sibylline or piophetic oracles, or they received it by an extraordi-
nary revelation from heaven. When Priscus was dying, he named the Virgin of the Conception
the heiress of the crown and dominion of the Cariiutes, But the event which gave rise to the new
worship is thus narrated :
" When a great dissension had arisen among the Gauls, and the authority of the magistrates had
not interposed to quell the excitement, and it had arrived at such a height that every thing was
falling into confusion through the public contentions* an image was sent down from heaven, to a
certain grave personage, who was more likely than any other person to extinguish such a flame-
on the base of which were inscribed these words : " O LAMB OF GOD, THAT TAKEST AWAY THK
<e SINS OF THE WORLD ! HAVE MERCY UPON us/' When he had publicly shewn this image to the
assembled Gauls, and had repeated a few words which had been revealed to him by God himself,
he so instantly affected and moved the minds of all, that no one thought of returning home till
peace was restored. Each, therefoie, embracing the rest, they interchanged forgiveness of all
injuries. Moreover, in order to perpetuate the memory of so happy a reconciliation, they made an
Image of the Virgin of the Conception, to which they thenceforth paid the highest honour. — Such
nearly is the account of Rigordius,"
Rigord, quoted above, by Frickius, and whom L'Escalopier also quotes, mentions, that among
the Gauls, and especially in Chartres, there existed, a hundred years (N. B.) BEFORE the birth of
our Saviour, the prophetic tradition of a Virgin that was to bear a son — VIRGO PARiTURA.1 He
also observes, that the Egyptians held the same persuasion, " and not only worshiped such a
** future virgin mother, prior to the birth of our Saviour, but exhibited the effigy of her son lying
tfff in the manger, in the manner the infant Jesus was afterwards laid in the cave at Bethlehem. 2
" Deinceps Egyptii PARITURAM VIRGINEM magno in honore habuerunt ; quin soliti sunt puerum
" effingerc jacentem in prsesepe, quali POSTEA in Bethlehemetic£ spelunc& natus est. For this
ee passage L'Escalopier quotes a saint of the church, Ephiphanius; I say quotes, because his own
" authority is very slender."3 The sacrifice of the Agni or the Yagni sacrifice of India already
described, was allusive to the Lamb of Isaiah and of Gaul,
I think I may now assume that I cannot be accused of very gross credulity in believing, that the
son of the Virgin of Isaiah, and the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, were the
same — both existing long before the time of Jesus of Nazareth*
When I reflect on the many circumstances, new and extremely curious as. they appear to me,
which I have observed, I am tempted to ask, Can it really be that I have a clearer sight than
others, which causes me to see what others overlook? If this be true, to an absence of prejudice
only can it be attributed. Such is the sensation I experience when I observe such circumstances
as the following 5 I cannot shut my eyes to them : in every part of Italy I observe pictures of the
holy family, of extreme antiquity, the grounds of them often of gold. Of course they are said to
be of a date subsequent to the time of Christ 5 but when I see them inscribed with the words Deo
L'Escaloperius, cte Theologifi veterum Gallorum, Cap. x. a As in Luke ii. 7.
Cleland's attempt to retrieve Celtic Literature, pp, 102, 103, 1766, 8vo. See Vol, L pp. 169—171.
110 3LAMB OF GOD.
Soli, I cannot help doubting. These pictures represent the mother seated with a child on her
knee, and a little boy standing close by her side. The lamb is generally seen in the picture.
This is the very description of what Mr, Payne Knight calls Isis and her offspring, who were wor-
shiped in Russia by the ancient Muscovites. And who was her offspring but Horus ? He adds,
they have in other pictures the symbol of a golden heifer, which is a symbol of the same person. l
After reading the account of the Isis in every part of the North of France and England, of the
Virgo Paritura, of the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world, I cannot doubt that this is
the same mythos in honour of the Beeve, which followed two thousand years after, in honour of
the Lamb — a renewal of the same mythos for every new bign of the zodiac. Sometimes it was
a Bull, then a Ram, and lastly, two Fishes, tied together by the tails on Popish monuments.
The first symptom of the worship of the lamb among the Israelites is to be found in the sub-
stitution of the Ram in the place of Isaac, by Abraham, for a sacrifice. When Joseph had become
prime minister of Egypt, he married Asenath, a daughter of the priest of On or Heliopolis, the
capital of Goshen, which word Goshen, Mr. Bryant states, means the house of the sun. Lucian2
states, that the persons initiated into the mysteries of that temple sacrificed a sacred sheep, a
symbol of the animal of the first sign, or of the equinoctial sign, which they ate as the Israelites
ate their Passover.3 On the ancient monuments of Mithra, in the different collections, we see the
Bull, whose blood is shed to take away the sins of the world. The Bull is now succeeded by the
Ram, the lamb without blemish, by whose blood the soul is puiified from sin. On an ancient
Christian monument the lamb is seen slain at the foot of the cross, the blood of which is caught in
a cup» 4 This is a copy of the rite described in the celebrated Mithraitic monument of slaying the
bull,5
Some of the coins of Gallienus are stamped with the figure of a Lamb and the legend Jovi
Servatori. And in another ancient medal is seen the legend Ammoni Servatori.6
The Egyptian God Jupiter, with the horns of a ram, the Ammon, is but the sun at the equinox,
which is confirmed by Martianus Capella, who maintains, in his hymn to the sun, that the God
lamb or ram is but the sun. Then if Christ be the sun, Christ, in the moment of his triumph and
reparation, ought to be as the sun, figured by the symbolical lamb. This symbolical sign is essen-
tial to his triumph over the prince of darkness and the works of the serpent. But, hi effect, he
has this form. He is designated in the Scriptuies by the mystical name of the Lamb, the
Saviour. His mysteries are those of the lamb without fault 5 nature is restored by the blood
of the lamb. Every where the blood of the lamb, which takes away the sins of the world, is
presented to us. When the priest pre&ents to the initiated the mystic bread which contains the
Christ, he says, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world/* He calls
it " the Lamb" which has been et slain from the foundation of the world/' 7 Every part of the
Apocalypse turns upon the triumph of the Lamb over the powers of hell and darkness. The
symbolical type of the sun, the redeemer, or of the first sign in which the sun had his exaltation
and completed his victory over the powers of darkness, has been carefully preserved in the reli-
gion of the Christians, so that to name Christ or the Lamb is the same thing as to name the
Redeemer.
1 Class. Jouin. Vol. XXVI. p. 269. * De Dea Syria, p 913. 3 Dupuis, Tome II. pp. 250, 4to.
1 Cdsalius de Veterib. Christ, Ritib. Cap. h. p. 4, or Cap, v. p. 48.
* St. Paulin, Bishop of Nola, Epist. 12 ad Sulpit. Severum, says, Sub cmce sanguined niveo stat Christus in agno.
6 Dupuis, Tome III, p. 325, 4to.
7 Rev, xiii 8. The Apocalypse is proved to be of very great antiquity by its having fixed the year to only 360 days.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 4. I]]
Instead of the Crucifix, Christ is often represented over the altars on the continent as a Lamb*
There is one at Cologne,
It follows, then, that the mysteries of Christ are the mysteries of the Lamb, and that the mys-
teries of the Lamb are mysteries of the same nature as those of the Mithraitic Bull, to which they
succeeded by the effect of the precession of the equinoxes, which substituted the slain lamJ) for the
slain bull The Christian mysteries of the lamb are proved to be taken from the mysteries of
Mithra, of the Persians, by the circumstance that the Persians alone have the lamb for the symbol
of the equinoctial sign : the other nations have the full grown Ram.
M. Dnpuis observes, that the lamb was a symbol or mark of initiation into the Christian mys-
teries, a sort of proof of admission into the societies of the initiated of the lamb, like the private
sign of the free-masons. From this came the custom, in the primitive church, of giving to the
newly- initiated or newly- baptized, the seal of the Lamb, or an impression in wax, representing
the Lamb.
Christians even now make their children carry about their necks a symbolical image of the Lamb,
called an Agnus Dei.
There are not many circumstances more striking than that of Jesus Christ being originally
worshiped under the form of a Lamb— the actual lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the
world. "Though many churches in this age were adorned with the images of saints and martyrs,
" there do not appear to be many of Christ. These are said to have been introduced by the Cap-
u padocians ; and the first of these were only symbolical ones, being made in the form of a Lamb.
" One of this kind Epiphanius found in the year 389, and he was so provoked at it that he tore it.
" It was not till the council of Constantinople, called In Trullo, held so late as the year 707, that
" pictures of Christ were ordered to be drawn in the form of men." *
Priestley is perfectly right : the custom of exposing the symbolical Lamb to the veneration of
the people continued to the year (508, when Agathon was pope, and Constantine Pogonat was
emperor. It was ordained, in the sixth Synod of Constantinople,* that, in the place of the
figuie of a lamb, the symbol used to that time, the figure of a man nailed to a cross should in
future be used, which was confirmed by Adrian the First. But the Pope Adrian the First, in the
seventh council, in his epistle to Tarasius, Bishop of Constantinople, had approved the represen-
tation of Christ under the form of the Lamb and adopted it. 3
In the decree of the council of Constantinople quoted above, the knowledge of a most important
fact is preserved to us by the decree passed for the express purpose of concealing it. If instead
of this formal decree, forbidding the votaries in future to represent Christ as a Lamb, the practice
had been merely discouraged by verbal communications, through the medium of the corresponding
societies of monks, it would have been as certainly abolished, and this curious link connecting the
ancient and modern superstitions would never have been discovered. It would have been irre-
trievably lost.
The following are the words of the decree, which I obtained in the Vatican Library, that mighty
treasury of secret learning.4
In the Roma Sotterranea of Antonio Bosio,5 Dell' Imagine di Christo in Figura di Agnello— " In
1 Priestley's Hist. Corr, Vol. I. p. 339 ; Seuer, A, D. 707, 9 Can. 82.
3 Dupuis, sur tons les Cultes, Tome III. p. 61, 4to.
* The French supposed that they examined it. Silly fellows ! The church took care that they should find as little
of secret learning in the Vatican as they found of real jewels at Loretto.
4 Lib. iv, Cap. xxix.
112 GENTILE CRUCIFIXION.
" quibusdam sanctorum imaginum picturis agnus exprimitur, &C.1 Nos igitur veteres figuras
" atque umbras, ut veritatis notas, et signa ecclesias tradita, compleetentes, gratiam, et veritatem
" anteponimus, quam ut plenitudinem legis accepinius. Itaque id quod perfectum eat, in picturis
" etiam omnium oculis subjiciamus, agnum ilium qui mundi peccatuui tollit, Christum Deum
" nostrum, loco veteris Agni, ImmanS, form£ posthac exprimendum decrevimus," &c. See
Canon 83. 2 From this decree the identity of the worship of the celestial lamb and the Romish
Jesus is certified beyond the possibility of doubt, and the mode by which the ancient super-
stitions were applied to an imaginary personage or to a real human being, Jesus of Nazareth, is
satisfactorily shewn. Nothing can more clearly prove the general practice than the order of a
general council to regulate it.
It requires no very great exertion of the imagination to form an idea in what manner the
ignorant and fanatical devotees, when they applied the worship of the Lamb that taketh away the
sins of the world to the man Jesus, should seize hold of and apply to him every doctrine, rite,
or ceremony, which the idle traditions of the vulgar attributed to the Lamb in different countries
where they happened to prevail. The God Sol, Mithra, and lao, being the same as the Lamb of
God, it seems natural enough that the ceremonies, &c., of the being passing under those names
bhould be adopted by his followers. Hence it is that we find them all mixed together in the
worship of Jesus. And, as the worship under the name of Mithra prevailed most in the different
Western countries of the world, it is not surprising that his peculiar doctrines and ceremonies
should most prevail in the new religion.
We have seen that Mr. Bryant, Dupuis, and others, have shewn that the worship of the
constellation of Aries was the worship of the Sun in his passage through that sign, and this
connects with the worship of the Lamb the different rites which were used by different nations in
the worship of the God Sol — the Dominus Sol — under the different names of Hercules, Bacchus,
Mithra, Adonis, &c., &c., their baptisms, oblations of bread and water, their births, deaths, resur-
rections after three days, and triumphs over the poweis of hell and of darkness. In all this can a
person be so blind as not to see the history of the God Ia«>, IHS, X?j<n*£5 the a and a>— the
incarnate God — the Lamb of God sacrificed to take away the sins of the world ? As might be
expected, we find this Saviour originally described and adored under the form of a Lamb. In
many places of Italy, particularly at Florence, he is described as a Lamb, with the cross held by
his fore- leg. But, in most places, these representations have been destroyed in compliance with
the bulls or decrees above-named, which unwittingly let us into the secret, which, without them,
we might have guessed at, but could not have certainly known.
Over the high altar of the cathedral at Mayence, on the Rhine, is a golden lamb, as large a&
life, couchant, upon a book sealed with seven seals, and surrounded with a glory. Over the high
altar of the cathedral of Bon, also, there is a Lamb in silver, as large as life,, couchant on a book,
sealed with seven seals, and surrounded with a golden .glory. In the gateway of the Middle
Temple in London may be seen one of these Lambs ; he holds a cross with his fore-leg, and has
the sun for his head, with a lamb's face. This is a relic of the ancient Knights Templars* In
the late repairs of their building the lawyers have shewn much good taste in not destroying it.
I rejoice that such of my countrymen as cannot go abroad, may sec this remnant of the ancient
superstition at home. I advise the Masonic Templars to add this to their eight-point red cross.
5. I will now shew my reader that the crucifixion of Christ is, like all the remainder of the
Romish mythos, a close copy from Paganism.
S, lo Damasc. Orat 3, de Iriiag. * Baron, Annal. Tom, VJIL ann. 680, 692.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 5. JJ3
ee Plato died about 348 before our sera. The beginning of John's Gospel is evidently Platonic
" This philosopher was himself believed to have been born of a pure virgin j and in his writings
ee had drawn up the imaginary character of a DIVINE MAN, whose ideal picture he completed by
" the supposition that such a man would be crucified" l — a supposition under which the secret
mythos was evidently concealed, but which would be clearly understood by the initiated. Having
penetrated into the mysteries, we understand it.
Prometheus is said to have been nailed up with arms extended, near the Caspian Straits, on
Caucasus. The history of Prometheus on the cathedral of Bourdeaux here receives its explanation.
Here the history of the Garuda, of the crucified Prometheus, in the Christian church, is accounted
for : proved by the name of the river Garumna, in the department of the same ancient name, not
to have been so called from any superstition of the middle ages. In our versions of the tragedy
of ^Eschylus, Prometheus is always fraudulently said to be Bound. It is called Prometheus vinctus,
He was nailed up in the form of a cross, with hammer and nails. The object of this impudent fraud
need not be pointed out. In this case Protestants and Papists are all alike.
" The Prometheus Bound of JEschylus was acted as a tragedy in Athens, 500 years before the
" Christian aera. The plot or fable of the drama, being then confessedly derived from the univer-
" sally recognized type of an infinitely remote antiquity; yet presenting not one or two, but
" innumerable coincidences with the Christian tragedy 5 not only the more prominent situations,
" but the very sentiments, and often the words of the two heroes are precisely the same/' " Pro-
" metheus made the first man and woman out of clay" — " was a God." He " exposed himself
" to the wrath of God, incurred by him in his zeal to save mankind/'2 He was crucified on a
rock, instead of a beam of timber,
JSsculapius was the sou of Coronis. This Coronis was the first of the Jewish Sephiroth,
Corona, and answered to the Brahm-Maia of the Brahmins. jEsculapius was Asclo-ops, <n|/, OTTOS,
Logos, voice — as fire and solar emanation, described by the numeral letters, &/or:600. Thus j
"j— 500, ^=30, y^i/O— 600. He was the voice of the solar cycle, or the voice of the mundane
fire ; for cycle and mundane, I think, are convertible terms. Or, judging from the serpent with
which this Saviour God is always accompanied, I should say, the serpent of the solar cycfe— As-clo-
j-Esculapius is always conjoined with the serpent \ and generally with a serpent coiling round
something — en~cir or en-cycling, something.
The serpent not only tempted Eve, but the name Heva meant serpent. Apyotg means serpent ;
Argha, the emblem of the female generative power, and Ag^a, the ship in which the germ of
animated nature was saved.
The Serpent, the Eva, the Argha, the Ship or Nau, the Cycle, the X=600, and the God, are all
brought very near together if they be not identified*
Once, as the sacred infant she surveyed,
The God was kindled in the raving maid 5
And thus she utter'd her prophetic tale,
Hail, great physician of the world I all hail.
Hail, mighty infant, who, in years to come,
Shalt heal the nations, and defraud the tomb !
Swift be thy growth, thy triumphs unconfined,
Make kingdoms thicker, and increase mankind.
* Taylor's Syntagma, in answer to J. P. S. [Dr. John Pye Smith?] p. 95, note. * Ibid. pp. 97, 98, and note.
VOL, II.
114 GENTILE CRUCIFIXION.
Thy daring art shall animate the dead,
And draw the thunder on thy guilty head ;
Then shalt thou die, but from the dark abode
Shalt lise victorious, and be twice a God. l
Mr. R. Taylor has stated, that he thinks the healing God2 was related to the Therapeute, or
Physicians of the Soul, as they have been called — as the name meant. And most certainly there
are expressions in the verses of Ovid which shew a reference to the superstition of Virgil, and to
the Christian, Promethean, and Hindoo incarnations and regenerations.
The following is an account given of the rites of Tammuz or of Adonis, or of the Syrian or
Jewi&h pK adn or pin aditn^ by Julius Firmicius : " On a certain night (while the ceremony of
** the Adonia, or religious rites in honour of Adonis lasted) an image was laid upon a bed, and be-
" wailed in doleful ditties. After they had satiated themselves with fictitious lamentations, light
** was brought in : then the mouths of all the mourners were anointed by the priest, upon which
" he, with a gentle murmur, whispered,
" Trust, ye saints, youi God restored,
** Trust ye, in your risen Loid ;
" For the pains \vliich he endured
* ' Our salvation have proem ed.
(< BOTCH <yap yptv sit woj/wy ffwrypux*
" Literally, * Trust, ye communicants; the God having been saved, there shall be to us out of
" pains, salvation/ " Godwyn renders it, " Trust ye in God, for out of pains, salvation is come
" unto us*" 4 Parkhurst5 gives the translation from Godwyn, and says, " I find myself obliged to
" refer Tarnomz, as well as the Greek and Roman Hercules, to that class of idols which were
" originally designed to represent the promised Saviour, the Desire of all nations. His other name
" Adonis, is almost the very Hebrew WTK Aduni or Lord, a well-known title of Christ."
On these rites of Adonis the Editor of Calmet says,6 "Now these rites seem to be precisely
" the same with those described in the Orphic Argonautica, where we learn that these awful
w meetings began, first of all, by an oath of secrecy, administered to all who were to be initiated.
u Then the ceremonies commenced by a description of the chaos or abyss, and the confusion atten-
" dant upon it : then the poet describes a person, as a man of justice, and mentions the orgies, or
" funeral lamentations, on account of this just person ; and those of Arkite Athene (i. e. Divine
" Providence) ; these were celebrated by night. In these mysteries, after the attendants had for a
" long time bewailed the death of this just person, he was at length understood to be restored lo
" life, to have experienced a resurrection 5 signified by the readmission of light* On this the
" priest addressed the company, saying, * Comfort yourselves, all ye who have been partakers of
" e the mysteries of the Deity, thus preserved : for we shall now enjoy some respite from our
" c labours :* to which were added these words, tf I have escaped a sad calamity, and my lot is
" 6 greatly mended/ The people answered by the invocation Io> Manaipa !
" < Hail to the Dove ! the Restorer of Light !' "
1 OVJD by Addison, ap» R. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 148, 9 That is, the Suli Minerva of Bath.
3 " Hence the idol Adorns had Ms name"— Parkhurst, in voce p dn, p. 141. 4 R. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 163,
* In voce ton tm*t p. 789. 6 Fragment, CCCXVIL pp. 21, 22.
BOOK II. CHAPTER HI. SECTION 5. 115
Here, I think, from this little scrap, which has escaped from the Argonautic mysteries, we see
enough to raise a probability that in them were acted over, or celebrated, the whole of the Mosaic
and Christian mythoses — the whole of what we have found mixed together in the rites of the
Brahmins of South India, as given by the Jesuits, the mythos of Moses, and of the person treated
on by the Erythraean Sibyl. It appears that these rites were celebrated in the autumn, to which
they must, of course, have been removed by the precession of the equinoxes. We have seen be-
fore, Vol. I. pp. 822 — 824, that it was admitted by Clemens Alexandrinus, who had been himself
initiated, that the mysteries of Eleusis were taken from the books of Moses. An interesting ac-
count of the tomb of Jesus, as it now is at Jerusalem, may be seen in the travels of Dr. Clarke.
But in the writings of some traveller, but by whom I have now forgotten, an account is given that
a miraculous fire descends from heaven at the festival of the resurrection, and nearly all the same
ceremonies are gone through by the Christians at this day, as I have just now shewn'were practised
in honour of Adonis 5 which word Adonis, it may be observed, is nothing but the Jewish Adonai,
which is always translated Lord in our Bible, in order to disguise the truth from its readers. This
Adonis or Tamas was the same which we found at the tomb of St. Thomas, and the town of
Adoni, in South India.
Adonis was the son of Myrra, which word, in the old language without points, would be nearly
the same as Maria. He was said to have been killed by a boar in hunting. This will not, on any
account, agree with the verses of Julius Firmicius ; therefore there must have been some other
history to which he alludes. We know that there were very few of the heathen gods which had
not several different histories of their births, deaths, &c,, and there must have been another of
Adonis which has not come down to us.
It is said, that the Christians of Malabar are called Christians of Nazaranee Mapila, or Surians of
Surianee Mapila. From this, when I consider that almost every other town named in the Christian
mythos has been found, both in India and the West of Asia, I cannot help thinking it probable that
a town called Nazareth will be found ; as it is evident from the above, that there is or was a country
called Nazarenee, As I have formerly observed, in the mountains at the back of the country
where these Christians are found, upon the river Kistnah, is a town called ADONI, and another
called Salem. l Let it not be forgotten that Adonis was Tammuz, and that Kistnah is Cristna.
The Christians of St. Thomas, as they are called, yet retain many of the old Brahmin customs,
and are very different and quite distinct from the modern converts. 2 Part of them are said also
to be rather lighter- coloured : this bespeaks them a tribe from the colder country of Cashmere or
Afghanistan.
When I reflect upon what I have written respecting the Erythrsean Sibyl, and that Justin
Martyr says she told all the history of Christ, almost every thing which had happened to him,
and that I have found the Tammuz or Adonis in the part of India where the Christians of St.
Thomas were found, and compare it with what Parkhurst has said above respecting Tammuz,
Adonis, &c., I can come to but one conclusion.
I must request my reader to look back to the description of divine love crucified, (Vol. I. p. 497,)
and reconsider what has been said respecting Baliji, Wittoba, or Salivahana, the cross-borne,
(ib. 667, 750, 7643) respecting the deaths and resurrections of Adorns, JSsculapiue, &c,, &c,, &c, $
and I think he will not be surprised to find a crucified Saviour among the Romans. This he will
now see has been handed down to us on evidence in its nature absolutely unimpeachable. Minu-
Vol. L p. 666. * Ibid. pp. 665, 666 ; and Asiat. Res. Vol. VJI. p, 36?.
a 2
116 GENTILE CRUCIFIXION.
tius Felix, a very celebrated Christian father, who lived about the end of the second century, in a
defence of the Christian religion, called Octavius, has the following passage :
" You certainly who worship wooden Gods, are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses,
" as being parts of the same substance with your Deities. For what else are your ensigns,
" flags, and standards, but crosses gilt and purified ? Your victorious trophies, not only represent
" a simple cross, BUT A CROSS WITH A MAN ON ir. The sign of a cross naturally appears in a
« ship, either when she is under sail or rowed with expanded oars, like the palm of our hands :
" not a juguin erected but exhibits the sign of a cross : and when a pure worshiper adores the
" true God with hands extended, he makes the same figure. Thus you see that the sign of the
" cross has either some foundation in nature, or IN YOUR OWN RELIGION : and therefore not to be
" objected against Christians."1
To whom could Cicero believe the acrostic of the Sibyl, mentioned in Volume I. pp, 5/4—576,
applied ? I now answer, to the crucified person commemorated on the standard, and who that
might be, I ask the priests — for it is their order which has destroyed all the evidence respecting
him. But I think few persons will now doubt that it was the BLACK crucified person whose effigy
we see in thousands of places all over Italy — the Saviour crucified for the salvation of mankind,
long before the Christian eera.
I think no unprejudiced person will doubt that the practice of the Romans, here alluded to by
Minutins, of carrying a crucified man on their standard, has been concealed from us by the careful
destruction of such of their works as alluded to it 5 and that its existence in the writing of Minu-
tius is a mere oversight of the destroyers*
I cannot entertain any doubt that this celebrated Christian father alludes to some Gentile
mystery, of which the prudence of his successors has deprived us. Perhaps the crucifixion of
divine love in the person of Ixion, or Prometheus, or Semiramis. As I have shewn above, in the
beginning of Christianity, Christ was not represented on a cross, but in the figure of a Lamb.
This is proved by the decree of the Pope, which we have just seen, that he should no longer be
represented as a Lamb, but as a Man on a Cross.
How great must have been the caution of the priests in leaving not a single Gentile, or, at
least, Roman remnant of this crucified person, or any thing which could lead us to him, so that
to this solitary, though very complete, Christian evidence, we are obliged for our knowledge of
him ! This consideration is quite enough to account for lacuna in our copies of Tacitus, of Livy,
of the Greek plays of JEschylus, Euripides, &c., &c. : for, to copies made by the hands of priests,
we are indebted for every work of these authors which we possess.
How very extraordinary that not a single icon should be left 1 For their deficiency, there must
be some other cause besides the astute care of the priests $ and that cause is readily explained —
the icons have become Christian crucifixes* Of these great numbers are to be seen in all Romish
countries, which have every mark of extreme antiquity. It is the same with the very old pictures
carrying the inscription, Deo Soli, and Soli Deo Mitrae, and Narna Sebadiah, which we have found
in Kalivvakam, in the Tamul language in India, noticed in Volume L p. 776, note, p, 779* and in
the Appendix, p, 835. However, it is certainly proved as completely as it is possible in the
nature of things for a fact of this nature to be proved, that the Romans had a crucified object of
adoration, and this could be no other than an incarnation of the God Sol, represented in some way
to have been crucified. It cannot be doubted that to mere accident we aie indebted for the passage
of Minutius Felix.
1 Min, Pel. Sect, xxix.
BOOK II, CHAPTER III. SECTION 5. ]J7
How can any one doubt that this was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world the
Solar Lamb incarnate ? The Lamb of God slain as an atonement for the sins of the world mav
be Romish Christianity, and it may be true, but it is not the Gospel of "Jesus, the Nazarite of
Samaria.
I have no doubt whatever that there has been some mythos of the Xp]fo$ in the Greek and
Woman Pantheons, which has been destroyed \ and that, in innumerable places, the X^jg-o^, in
being copied by the priests, has been converted into Christos ; and very greatly indeed are we
indebted to Dr. Clarke for having honestly given us the inscription at or near Delphi.
I now beg my reader to look back to Vol. I. pp. 549—553, and there he will see the account of
the prophecy of Apollo of Miletus. This Apollo was called Didymaeus \ Didymus means Twins.
In this country there was a place called Thamas. There was also a town called Cresto-polis.
Theic was a river Indus, a place called Sinda, a town called Calinda, also the city of Erythraea,
an island of Calymna or Calainina,1 Mount Chalcis, Larissa, and the island of Crete,2 called
Candia3 and lentil I think in the Apollo Didymseus and the oracle of the incarnate person
crucified by the Chaldaeans, we cannot be blind to the mythos of Cristna and Salivahana, and the
Calli-dei of South India at Calamina, or St. Thomas, or the twins. Close to Rhodes is Portus
Cresso, the Crestian Port.
In this country also is a Patara. Wherever we have an Apollo we have a mythos of Patarse,
or Patiicius, or Patrick. Gen. Vallancey has traced the Miletii from Spain to Ireland. The people
of Miletus are called Miletii* On this coast is an island of Calydonia, and a cape Kelidoni. I
cannot doubt, though the colony might stop at some place in Spain, that it first came from this
country, at which time came Calydonia to Scotland, and Patrick to Ireland, who brought the
mythos of the God incarnate crucified by the Chaldaeans — the God Icriti or Critika, which was
both bull and ram — the God alluded to by Apollo of Miletus.
Col. Tod says, "When Alexander attacked the 'free cities' of Panchalica, the Poorus and
" Herictilas, who opposed him, evinced the recollections of their ancestor, in carrying the figure
" of Hercules as their standard/' 5 Here, I have no doubt whatever, was the crucifix of Prome-
theus, of Ixion, of Cristna— the crucifix of Balii or the Lord (if Bai meant Lord) M— the crucifix
which Father Georgius found set up at every cross road in Tibet— (not observed by our English
travellers, though the Jesuit could see it) — the crucifix of Minutius Felix, and the crucifix black or
copper colour at every point WHERE ROADS CROSS IN ITALY, (which will be accounted for by and
by, when I "treat of the Etruscan Agrimensores,) and in hundreds of the churches. In short, it
was the peculiar emblem of the Pandean or Catholic religion ; for I have no doubt whatever, that
both these words have the meaning of universal; and / suspect that the perfect mythic history
is yet secreted in the recesses of the conclaves of Tibet and Rome : and that, in ancient time, it
was the doctrine of the Panionian temple at Ephesus, in Asia Minor, of the Pandion of Athens,
and of the Ceres or Xg7]£ of Eleusis and Delphi. In short, it was the universal esoteric religion
of the world. Every common Catholic priest will swear to-day that he knows this to be false,
and to- morrow he will get absolution for his oath, for he knows nothing about it. It is confided
to very few persons — whether to TWELVE of the Cardinals may be matter of doubt, Here
we see the reason why the Catholic Popes have every rite and ceremony of the ancient Hea-
thens, as they are called, in their religion— the CATHOLIC religion. If I am mistaken, then the
See Vol I. p. 810. a The French Chi&icn. 3 Candy or Ceylon,
Evidently the Indian Kritika. 5 Hist, Raj. Vol. I. p. 51, note.
118 GENTILE CRUCIFIXION.
Brahmins of Italy are precisely in the situation of the Brahmins of India, and have lost their
secret system.
Where my friend Col. Tod learned the fact he has stated, respecting the standard, I do not
know ; but I suppose he borrowed it from Arrian, who says, that the troops of Porus, in their war
with Ale^ancsr, carried on their standards the figure of a man. This must have been a Stauro-
bates or Salivahana, and looks very like the figure of a man carried on their standard by the
Romans, This was similar to the Dove carried on the standards of the Assyrians. This must
hare been the crucifix of Nepaul.
GeorgiuB says, * " Ad hoc plane tarn inipias ac foedas superstitionis caput referri debent, quae
-* de seeunda Trinitatis Tibetanse Persona narrat ex P. Andrada La Crozius in H. Chr. Ind. p.
" 5H s « Us conviemient qu'il a r^pandu [Cho Conjoc] son sang pour le salut du genre humain,
"ff«iyanl ete perc& de clous par tout son corps. Quoiqu'ils ne disent pas qu'il a souffert le
" € supplice de la croix, on en trouve pourtant la figure dans leurs livres : Leur grand Lama
" c cel£bre une espece de sacrifice avec du pain et du vin dont il prend une petite quantite, et
" 6 distribue le reste aux Lamas presens £ cette c£remonie/ "
The Cambridge Key says, te Buddha, the author of happiness and a portion of Narayen, the
4 Lord Haree-sa, the preserver of all, appeared in this ocean of natural beings at the close of the
" Dwapar, and beginning of the Calijug : He who is omnipotent, and everlastingly to be contem-
" plated 5 the Supieme God5 the eternal ONE, the divinity worthy to be adored by the most pious
" of mankind, appeared with a portion of his divine nature." 2 Jayadeva describes him as
" bathing in blood, or sacrificing his life to wash away the offences of mankind, and thereby to
" make them partakers of the kingdom of heaven. Can a Christian doubt that this Buddha was
" the type of the Saviour of the world ?" 3 Very well, I say to this learned Cantab, I will not
dispute that the Cristna crucified, Baliji crucified, Semiramis crucified, Prometheus crucified,
Ixion crucified, were all types of the Saviour, if it so please him; but let me not be abused for
pointing out the facts. Type or not type must be left to every person's own judgment. Oa
this subject I shall quarrel with no one. But then the Gentile religion must have been a whole
immense type. This will prove Ammonius right that there was only one religion.
In the Apocalypse or Revelation, ch. xi. ver. 8, is a very extraordinary passage. It has two
readings. In one it says ih&t your Lord was crucified in Egypt, in the other, the received text,
it sa} s our Lord was crucified, &c. Griesbach says of the former indulfe genuina. This evidently
alludes to the man crucified of Minutiae Felix, who was thus crucified at Rome, in Egypt, Greece,
India, at Miletus, &c* This is obviously a piece of Heathen mythology, of which, in the West,
the priests have nearly deprived us ; but there is no room to doubt that it is one of the Saliva-
lianas, Staurobateses, Baliis, Wittobas, Prometheuses, Semiramises, and Ixions, of the East.
If we take the passage to mean our Lord, we have the Heathen or Gnostic cross-borne of Egypt,
(for Christians do not pretend that Jesus was crucified in Egypt,) grafted on the Romish
Christianity, like all their other rites and ceremonies. I have little doubt that the crucifixion of
every Avatar, as it passed, was simultaneously celebrated at each of the five temples of Solomon
in Egypt, wherein the Jewish prophet declares that the name of the true God shall be praised,
I have some suspicion also that the cross of Constantine was a crucifix. When he and Eusebius
| Alph Tib.p 211
4 In the Haree-sa, the preserver of all, we have the Hebrew mrr ere geneatrut, and w iw the Saviour; and in the
Haree or Heri we have also the Gieek Ep«$, Divine Love, the Sauour of all.
» Camb Key, Vol I. p. 118.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 6. 119
were lying, (as Lardner has proved they were,) it was only taking the matter by halves not to
take the body with the cross. However, this suspicion imports but little, as it is very clear that a
crudfx was the object of adoration from the Indus to the Tibur j and I suspect even to thejfzre
tower at Brechin, in Scotland. l Col. Tod says,2 " The Heraclidas claimed from Atreus : the
" Hericulas claim from AtrL Euristhenes was the first king of the Heraclidse : Yoodishtra has
" sufficient affinity in name to the first Spartan king, not to startle the etymologist,, the d and ^
" being always permutable in Sanscrit." Surely the identity of the Greek and Indian Hercules
cannot be doubted, nor the identity of their ancestor Atreus ?
It seems to me qxnte impossible for any person to have read the preceding part of this work
with attention, and not to have felt convinced that there has originally been one universal mythos,
repeated in a vast number of different aud very distant places. It cannot be expected that the
whole original mythos should be found anywhere; the eternal law of change forbids this : nor
can it be expected that it should be found in every respect the same in any two places. This again
the law of change forbids. For the mythos must change in all the places, and it is a million to
one that in any two it should be found after several thousand years to have made in each the same
change, so that at this time they should be exactly similar. But a sufficient degree of similarity
is found to mark the fact, in great numbers of them, and in some really much greater than could
have been expected* What can be more striking than that which we have found in Rome and
Tibet >
In almost every mythos we see the same immaculate conception, the same ten months* preg-
nancy, the same attempts of an enemy to destroy the infant, the same triumph of the infant, his
glorious and benevolent character and life, his final violent death, and his resurrection to life and
immortality \ and all this constantly connected with a town on seven hills, &c., &c., &c.
When 1 reflect deeply upon certain facts which cannot be disputed, and upon the identity of
the worship of Tammuz, in Western Syria, of Tammuz in Egypt, and Tamus both in Northern
and Southern India, that is, the two Eastern Syrias $ upon the high probability, (shall I not say
certainty?) that the Esseneans of Egypt and Western Syria were Pythagoreans and followers of
the Xpj£, that is, Christians, before the time of Jesus of Nazareth ; upon the account of Christian
doctrines in Southern India, given by the Jesuits — and upon the extraordinary fact that, when
the work of Eusebius is properly translated, as given by the Rev. R. Taylor, the whole doctrine
and church establishment of the Christians is found among the Esseneans in Egypt ; I cannot help
suspecting that the church of the Pagan Christian Constantine was nothing but the transplantation
of the Esaenes to the West, and that the secret, allegorical doctrines of these monks were those
of the God Adonis, or Thamas, the Saviour re-incarnated or renewed every new cycle.
6. I presume it is well known to my reader, that in the first two centuries the professors of
Christianity were divided into many sects; but these might be all resolved into two divisions —
one consisting of Nazarencs, Ebionites, and Orthodox $ the other of Gnostics, under which all the
remaining sects arranged themselves. The former believed in Jesus Christ crucified, in the
common, literal acceptation of the term 5 the latter, though they admitted the crucifixion, consi-
dered it to have been in some mystic way — perhaps what might be called spiritualiter, as it is
called in the Revelation : but notwithstanding the different opinions they held, they all denied
that Christ did really die, in the literal acceptation of the term, on the cross. These Gnostic or
Oriental Christians took their doctrine from the Indian crucifixion of which we have just treated,
See Celtic Druids, Introd. pp. xlvi. xlvii. ft Hist, Raj. Vol. L p. 51, note.
BOOK II. CHAPTER HI. SECTION 6. 1 19
were lying, (as Larclner has proved they were,) it was only taking the matter by halves not to
take the body with the cross. However, this suspicion imports but little, as it is very clear that a
cmcifix was the object of adoration from the Indus to the Tibur; and I buspect even to thejm?
tower at Brechin, in Scotland.1 Col. Tod says,2 " The Heraclidae claimed from Atreus : the
" Hericulas claim from Atri. Euristhenes was the first king of the Heraclidae : Yoodishtra has
" sufficient affinity in name to the first Spartan king, not to startle the etymologist,, the d and rf
" being always permutable in Sanscrit/' Surely the identity of the Greek and Indian Hercules
cannot be doubted, nor the identity of their ancestor Atreus ?
It seems to me quite impossible for any person to have read the pieceding part of this work
with attention* and not to have felt convinced that there has originally been one universal mylhob,
repeated in a vast number of different and very distant places. It cannot be expected that the
whole original mythos should be found anywhere; the eternal law of change forbids this : nor
can it be expected that it should be found in every respect the same in any two places. This again
the law of change forbids. For the mythos must change in all the places, and it is a million to
one that in any two it should be found after several thousand years to have made in each the same
change, so that at this time they should be exactly similar. But a sufficient degree of similarity
is found to mark the fact, in great numbers of them, and in some really much greater than could
have been expected. What can be more striking than that which we have found in Rome and
Tibet ?
In almost every mythos we see the same immaculate conception, the same ten months' preg-
nancy, the same attempts of an enemy to destroy the infant, the same triumph of the infant, his
glorious and benevolent character and life, his final violent death, and his resurrection to life and
immortality ; and all this constantly connected with a town on seven hills, &c., &c,, &c.
When I reflect deeply upon certain facts which cannot be disputed, and upon the identity of
the worship of Tammuz, in Western Syria, of Taminuz in Egypt, and Tamus both in Northern
and Southern India, that is, the two Eastern Syrias ; upon the high probability, (shall I not say
certainty?) that the Esseneans of Egypt and Western Syria were Pythagoreans and followers of
the X^3£, that is, Christians, before the time of Jesus of Nazareth ; upon the account of Christian
doctrines in Southern India, given by the Jesuits — and upon the extraordinary fact that, when
the work of Eusebius is properly translated, as given by the Rev. R. Taylor, the whole doctrine
and church establishment of the Christians is found among the Esseneans in Egypt ; I cannot help
suspecting that the church of the Pagan Christian Constantine was nothing but the transplantation
of the Essenes to the West, and that the secret, allegorical doctrines of these monks were those
of the God Adonis, or T hamas, the Saviour re-incarnated or renewed every new cycle.
6. I presume it is well known to my reader, that in the first two centuries the professors of
Christianity were divided into many sects ; but these might be all resolved into two divisions--
one consisting of Nazarenes, Ebionites, and Orthodox ; the other of Gnostics, under which all the
remaining sects arranged themselves. The former believed in Jesus Christ cruci&ed, in the
common, literal acceptation of the term ; the latter, though they admitted the crucifixion, consi-
dered it to have been in some mystic way — perhaps what might be called spiritualiter, as it is
called in the Revelation : but notwithstanding the different opinions they held, they all denied
that Christ did really die, in the literal acceptation of the term, oil the cross. These Gnostic or
Oriental Christians took their doctrine from the Indian crucifixion of which we have just treated,
See Celtic Druids, lutrod. pp. xlvi. xlvii, a Hist, Raj. Vol. I p. 51, note.
120 JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT CRUCIFIED*
as well as many other tenets with which we have found the Romish Church deeply tainted. This
my reader must see will enable him to account for many extraordinary things.
I have already remarked, that the Pagan Roman crucifix was purposely concealed 5 for no one
can doubt that there must have been some history connected with it. And persons may believe
or not believe as the impressions on their minds or their prejudices may dictate $ yet the evidence
of the fact— the authority of Minutius — is complete and cannot be disputed9 on any principle of
sound criticism. And the fact must have been purposely concealed, or we should have had notice
of it ia some of the Roman historians or writers. I know that for honestly bringing forward this
and many other facts, it will be said that I am not a Christian ; at least by great numbers of those
who will not allow any person to be a Christian who is not of their sect. I shall be accused of
not believing the crucifixion, except as an allegory. But I may doubt this fact (though I expressly
say, I do not here state my opinion upon it), and yet be a Christian, as much, at least, as the
celebrated Christian SAINT, APOLOGIST, and MART YE, the oithodox writer against heresies, the
BISHOP of Lyons, SAINT IREN&US, from whose works I have extracted the following passage. I
think I surely have a right to call myself a Christian, if I am of the religion of this orthodox
Saint and Martyr : but I repeat, at present I do not state my opinion.
Lib. ii. Cap, xxxix. of Dr. Grabe's Irenseus has the following title : fi Ostensio quod uno anno
"mm praeconiaverit Dominua post baptisnmm; scd omnem habuisse aetatem." And it contains
the following passage: "Domes enim venit per semetipsum salvare : omnes inquam, qui per
" emu renascuntur in Deum, infantes, et parvulos, et pueros, et juvenes, et seniores. Ideo per
" omnem venit eetatem, et infantibus infans factus, sanctificans infantes : in parvulis parvulus,
cc sanctificans hanc ipsam habentes setatem, simul et exemplum illis pietdtis effectusfl et justiciee,
" et subjections : in juvenibus juvenis, exemplum juvenibus fiens, et sanctificans Domino. Sic et
** senior in senioribus, ut sit perfectus magister in omnibus, non solum secundum expositionem
" veritatis, sed et secundum atatem, sanctificans simul et seniores, exemplum ipsis quoque fiens :
" delude et usque ad mortem pervenit, ut sit1 primogenitus ex mortuis, ipse primatum tenens in
" omnibus princeps vitas, prior omnium, et prascedens omnes. Illi autem, ut figmentum sumn de eo
" quod est sciiptum, vocare annum Domini acceptum, affirment, dicunt uno anno enm pradicasse,
" et duodecimo meuse passum, contra semetipsos obliti sunt, solventes ejus omne negocium, et
" magis necessarian!, et magis honorabilem aetatem ejus auferentes, illam, inquam, provcctiorem,
" in qua edocens praceiat univerbis. Quomodo enim habuit discipulos, si uon docebat ? Quo-
" modo autem docebat, raagistri aetatem non habens ? Ad baptismum enim venit nondum qui
" triginta annos suppleverat, sed qui inciperet esse tanquam triginta aimorutn : (ita enim, qui
"ejus annos significavit Lucas, posuit: JESUS autem erat quasi incipient tngmta owworwn/cum
" veniret ad baptismum): et ^ baptismate uno tantum anno prsedicavit; complens trigesimum
" annum, passus est, adhuc juvenis existens, et qui necdum provectiorem haberet eetatem. Quia
" autem triginta annorum aetas prima indolis est juvenis, et extenditur usque ad quadragesimum
« annum, omnis quilibet confitebitur: fc quadragesimo autem et quinquagesimo anno dedinat jam
"in astern seniorem: quam habens Dominus noster docebat, sicut Evangelium « ct omnes
« 'seniores testantur, qui in Asi* apud Joannem discipulum Domini convenerunt, id ipsum tradi-
" < disse eis Joannem. Perrnansit autem cum eis usque ad Trajani temporal "
futprupew, oJ xaranjy Airw Icoavv^ ry rs Ku^w
Coloss. i. 18,
o
BOOK II. CHAPTER 111. SECTION 6. 121
s,1 7rapa&!&asxsVQLi raura r^v Icootwjjr TroLpepsive yap OLVTUS ^XP^ ra)V
Quidam autem eorum non solum Joannem, sed et alios Apostolos viderunt, et haec
eadem ab ipsis audierunt, et testantur de hujusmodi relatione."
" A demonstration that the Lord preached after his baptism not (merely) for one year ; but
" that he employed (in preaching) the whole term of his life. For he came to save all through
" himself: all I say who through him are born again to God — infants, little children, boys, youths,
" and old people. Therefore he came (preached) in every stage of life : and made an infant with
"infants, sanctifying infants: a child among children, sanctifying those of the same age as
" himself: and at the same time supplying an example to them of piety, of justice, and of submis-
" hion : a youth among youths, becoming an example to youths, and sanctifying them to the
u Lord. So also an elder among elders, that the teacher might be perfect in all things, not only
" according to the exposition (law or rule) of truth, but also according to the period of life — and
" sanctifying at the same time the elders, becoming an example even to them : after that he came
" to death that he might be the first-born from the dead, he himself having pre-eminence in all
" things, the prince of life, above all, and excelling all. But to establish their own forgery that it
" is written of him, to call (it ?) the acceptable year of the Lord, they say against themselves that
" he preached (during) one year (only ?) and suffered on the twelfth month (of it ?) They have
" forgotten— giving up every (important ?) affair of his, and taking away the more necessary, the
" more honourable, and, I say, that more advanced period of his, in which, teaching diligently,
" he presided over all. For how did he obtain disciples if he did not teach ? And how did he
" teach— not having attained the age of a master (or doctor ?) For he came to baptism who had
" not yet completed thirty years of age : (for thus Luke who indicates his years lays it down : and
" Jesus was as it were entering on thirty years when he came to baptism :) and after (his ?) bap-
" tism he preached only one year :— (on) completing his thirtieth year he suffered (death) being as
fiC yet only a young man, who had not attained maturity. But as the chief part of thirty years
" belongs to youth, (or, and a person of thirty may be considered a young man ?) and every one
" will confess him to be such till the fortieth year : but from the fortieth to the fiftieth year he
" declines into old age, which our Lord having attained he taught as the Gospel, and all the eldors
" who, in Asia assembled with John the disciple of the Lord, testify, and (as) John himself had
" taught them. And he (John ?) remained with them till the time of Trajan. And some of them
" saw not only John but other apostles, and heard the same things from them, and bear the same
** testimony to this revelation."
Although this passage is very difficult to translate, arising probably from a wish of the translator
out of the Greek into the Latin, to disguise the true meaning ; yet it is evident that Irenaeub
accuses the other party of FORGERY, in representing Jesus to have been put to death only one
year after he began his ministry. But I shall discuss this more at length in a future book.
I do not doubt that what J have said respecting the evidence of Irenseus will excite great
surprise, and probably smiles of contempt in many persons ; but I call upon all such individuals,
not to give way to their vulgar prejudices, but to try this evidence by the rules by which evidence
is examined in a court of justice. This is the only way of bringing the matter to a fair decision;
but 1 believe there are very few, of even educated persons, who ever think upon the nature or value
of evidence, or know that the consideration of the subject is of any consequence, This is the
, , , ...pTfi«) Ita Eusebius loco citato et Nicephorus, Lib, iii. Cap. ii. Sed in Georgii Sincelli Chronographia
p. 345, edit. Paris, 1652, excuderunt erv^^^wrt^ et ne quid varietdtis dicit, in marg-ini posuerunt «n/^^e^wxore^ »
VOL. II.
122 JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT CatTCIFIKD.
reason why so much nonsense is found to be believed, even by persons who, on other topics,
evince a sound and discriminating judgment.
From this passage of St. Irenseus's, which has so fortunately escaped the hands of the destroyers,
we learn the fact which cannot be disputed, that the doctrine of Christ crucified, preached in so
pointed a manner by St. Paul, was, to say the least of it, a vexata questio among Christians even
in the second century : this shews that we are merely a sect of Paulites. 1
If Col. Wilford may be believed, the orthodox were not the only persons who disputed the age
of Christ. Speaking of the sectaries, he says, " Some insisted that he lived thirty, thirty-three^
forty > and others nearly but not quite fifty years. Stephanus Gobarus has collected many of these
idle notions, in the extracts made of his works by Photius." 2 They may be idle notions in the
opinion of Col. Wilford, but they support the evidence of Irenaeus, and what I have said, that it
was a vemta questio.
Every oriental scholar knows, that Sir William Jones, Wilford, &c., have proved that the God
Indra, of India, is the Jupiter Pluvialis of Greece ; and I have proved that Jupiter is the God lao
of the Hebrews, and the Jesus of the Romish church. Then we have lao crucified on a tree, 3 in
Nepaul. See my figures, Number 14. I beg my reader to turn to the map ; he will there find,
in the Golden peninsula or Chersonesus, the Crysen or country of Xgijs,4 the kingdom of Judea
and Mount Sion at the top of it. In Nepaul and Tibet there are the Eastern Pope and his monks,
&c», and a crucified God. Again, in the promontory of India, in the South, at Tanjore, and in the
North, at Oude or Ayoudia, there are the crucified God Bal-Ii, St. Thomas, Montes Sohimi, son**
of David, icons of Noah, Job, Seth, &c., &c. : and again, in the West, there are Bacchus, Osiris,
Atys, &c., &c., all put to death and raised the third day; and this done, let him declare what he
thinks of it. If he be satisfied, with Parkhurst, that all these things are types or symbols of what
the real Saviour was to do and siiffer9 then I ask him to say what he thinks of the evidence of
Irenaeus, that the real Jesus of Nazareth was not crucified by Pontius Pilate. Perhaps he will not
believe Irenaeus: then do I tell him, that Irenasus, in a court of justice, is evidence conclusive,
that he heard, as stated, from the old men of Asia, &c., &c., and, if the reader do not believe him,
he entertains an opinion contrary to evidence* I maintain, that the evidence of Irenseus is the
best evidence which we possess of the death of Jesus Christ \ because it is the evidence of an un-
willing witness. This brings to recollection the doctrine formerly noticed, of certain heretics
maintaining, that Christ was crucified in the heavens ; that is, I suppose, in the y*pi rqio of the
second verse of Genesis. It also reminds me that Justin Martyr, after Plato, maintained him to
have been described on the world or universe in the form of a cross.6 All these facts, which
tend to one point, cannot, I think, mean nothing ; and this leads me to a suspicion, that there lies
hidden under them a most important and profound part of the esoteric religion. The ChrSstos,
Xpjs--o£, was the Logos ; the Sun was the Shekinah or Manifestation of the Logos or Wisdom to
men 3 or, as it was held by some, it was his peculiar habitation. The sun was crucified when he
seemed to cross the plane of the Equator at the vernal equinox. He was slain at every passover ;
but he was also slain in his passage, at the vernal equinox, from Taurus to Aries \ and this is de-
scribed by the young man slaying the Bull in the Mithraic ceremonies, and the slain lamb at the
1 Paul was, however, preceded by Peter in preaching Christ crucified. (See Acts ii. 23, 24, 32, iii. 13—18.) Might
not believers in the doctrine of " Christ crucified,5* therefore, be as justly denominated " merely a sect of Peterites" as
"of Paulites"? Editor.
* Asiat. Res. Vol X, p. 93. 3 Georgius, p. 202. * Ibid. p. 348. 4 VoL I. pp. 788, 789.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 7» 123
foot of the cross in the Christian ceremonies. The man Jesus was the Logos, or Divine Wisdom,
or a portion of Divine Wisdom incarnate: in this sense he was really the sun or the solar power
incarnate, and to him every thing applicable to the sun will apply. He was the Logos ciucined
in the heavens ; he was the being described, according to Justin, in the heavens, in the form of a
cross, and when the man Jesus taught the direst Xp^orr crucified, this, or something like it, i
suspect, was the doctrine which he taught. When we find from Irenaeus that he was not murdered
or killed, all we can make out of our four gospel-histories is, that they were allegories, parables,
apologues, to conceal the secret doctrine. The evidence of Irenaeus cannot be touched. On every
principle of sound criticism, and of the doctrine of probabilities, it is unimpeachable. The doctrine
I here suggest unites all the discordances of every kind. I know that a great outcry will be made
at me for saying that Jesus Christ was the sun. In the vulgar acceptation of the words, I can
only say that this is not true. But that Jesus or the Logos was believed to be a portion of ethe-
real fire by every one of the early fathers, is a fact ; whether their belief was true or not, is another
question. He was the Xpj£ of India ; He was the %py$-sv of the Tamul, which had en for its
termination 5 the Cres-us of the Sanscrit, and the Chres-us of the Latin, which had us for their
terminations.
The ancient philosophers being much too refined and correct in their ideas to take up with the ,
vulgar opinion, formed in a comparatively barbarous period, that the world was created by spirit, ]
that is, air in motion, (the correct and only proper meaning of the word spirit, if it have any defi-
nable meaning) were driven to have recourse either to a refined igneous principle, in fact, to fire,
or to use the word illusion. And they came to the last, because they found, on deep reflection,
that they could form no idea of the First Cause ; but of the emanations from it, they could 3 and,
therefore, they conceived that the Creator was a refined fire, emanating from the To Ov, or from
the illusory unknown being. All the mistakes of moderns arise from inattention to Locke's un-
questionable doctrine, that man can possess no ideas which he does not receive through the
medium of his senses $ consequently, man erroneously fancies he has an idea of an unknown ex-
istence, called spirit or a spiritual being — an unknown existence, which he chooses to call by a
xvord that means air in motion. This unknown ITctT7]g ayva>crro£ the philosophers called the To Q?
— surely a much better word than that which only meant air in motion. But, in fact, by thib
nonsensical word, the moderns contrive to deceive themselves, and gratify their malice by sepa-
rating themselves from the ancient philosophers, who, if alive, would be very much ashamed to be \
of their company.
The view which I here take of this subject perfectly reconciles the passage of Irenaeus in ques-
tion, with the passages where he quotes our four gospel histories. I cannot conceive any other
mode of reconciling them. Let those who disapprove it produce a better. All this is in perfect
keeping with the whole of the esoteric doctrines of Jews, Gentiles, and Christians ; and all this
will be confirmed still more by the examination of our four gospel histories into which I shall
enter in a future book, and which I shall shew were intended for the purpose of concealing a secret
system. No one can deny that these books are full of parables : without a parable spake he not
unto them. The whole is a parable, which covers the esoteric religion — a parable which it was
impossible for the popes to explain to persons afflicted with insanity, like Luther and Calvin.
7- In the Old Monthly Magazine, in the numbers for October 1803, p. 221, Nov. 1803, p* 305,
May 1815, p. 308, will be found a curious inquiry into the question, Who wrote Wisdom ? In
the same Magazine for December 1815, p. 407, August 1817, P« 35, Nov. 1817? P- 313, Who was
the author of Ecclesiasticus ? And in January 1818, p. 505, and in August 1818, p. 36, Who was
the author of Sirach ? A careful perusal of those essays will clearly shew, why these books have been
124 JEWISH INCARNATION.
determined by the church, or rather, I should say, by modern priests, to have been written after the
time of Jesus of Nazareth. They are refused by Protestants because they never knew any thing of
esoteric Christianity, They were received by the members of the Romish church, because they un-
derstood the esoteric Christianity. I must beg my reader to recollect what I have said, in Volume L
p. 198, of the renewed avatars or incarnations of the Jews, then I think he will see from the following
essay, January 18L8, p. 505, an example of a crucifixion before the time of Jesus Christ among the
Jews to match the crucifixions of Buddba and Cristna, and the Chribt of the Romans.
" The claim of the son-of-godship at Jerusalem, however legally vested in the house of Hillel,
" was practically usurped by the house of Herod. If the representative of David was king dejure,
" the tetrarch was king de facto. In the eye of the reigning dynasty, whoever claimed to be Sou
" of God advanced a treasonable claim ; and under a constitution so strictly theocratic as to iden-
" tify the sovereign and the Lord, (see, for instance, Exod. xxxv. 30,) would technically be in-
" dieted for blasphemy. Some such accusation (xi.) our Jesus incuned, was in consequence
" crucified, interred, and rose again from the sepulchre. Here is his own account of this extraor-
" dinary and momentous incident of his life.
" *By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue, my soul drew near even unto death,
" and my life near unto the hell beneath. They compassed me on every side, and there was no
" man to help me 5 I looked for the succour of men, but there was none." — Ecclesiasticus li. 6
and 7.
" They said, * He professeth to have the knowledge of God, and he called himself the child of the
" Lord. He was made to reprove our thoughts : he is grievous unto us even to behold 3 for hib
" life is not like other men's, — his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as
" counterfeits : he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness : he pronounceth the end of the just
" to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father. Let us see if his words be true ;
" and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him : for if the just man be the Son of God, he
" will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us examine him with despite-
" fulness and torture, that we may know his meekness and prove his patience : let us condemn
" him with a shameful death } for by his own saying he shall be respected.*— Wisdom ii. 13—20.
" * Thou art my defender and helper ; thou hast preserved my body from destruction, and from the
" snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and hast been my helper against
" my adversaries j and hast delivered me from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me,
" and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I
" had, — from the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words/— Ec-
clesiasticus li. 2, 3, 5,
"But one inference is possible : there cannot have been two Menechmi1 at Jerusalem, both
" named Jesus ; both born of a virgin, to whom a miraculous conception was imputed ; both edu-
" cated in the temple $ both sent into Egypt 5 both undertaking a mission to reform the Jewish
" church, and lecturing to that effect in Solomon's porch $ both claiming to be the Son of God at
"Jerusalem; both arraigned for blasphemy; both crucified ; both interred 5 and both reserved for
" resurrection from the sepulchre. Yet all these things are true of the son of Sirach by his own
" shewing." But there were two Menechmi at Jerusalem. I do not doubt that there were nine
or ten of them. They were all Jesuses or Saviours.
1 Construed comforters but I suspect we have kere the Celtic word mannus and D3H hkm, man of wisdom, I think
it probable that the word has had both meanings.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III. SECTION 7- 125
I think no person will be surprised at the above, or will have any difficulty, who recollects the
proofs which I have given of the identity of the Jewish and Gentile systems ; and the numerous
immaculate conceptions, crucifixions, and resurrections, of the Gods of the Gentiles, of the East
and West. l
The book of Ecclesiasticus, or the wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, is much corrupted, and its
parts dislocated. It was written by a different author from the book of Wisdom. As we might
expect, it is called the look of parables.11 The translation of this book of the Romish church was
not made by Jerorn, but is found in what is called their older Vulgate, but by whom that book was
made they do not know. Jerom says he saw it in Hebrew.3 But the learned Calmet makes a
most important observation, the effect of which he does not see, which at once proves that the
translation is much older than the Christian sera. He observes, that the translator uses obsolete
words ; thus he puts honestas for riches, honestm for a rich man, respectus or visitatio for the
punishment of God on wicked men ; supervacuitas for vanity or vain glory; animalia supwvacua
for dangerous or noxious animals. When I consider that we have the Mosaic mythos intermixed
with that of the Gentiles in the Sibyl, which contained all things related of Jesus Christ,— -that
Clemens let out, that the same mythos4 was to be found in the mysteries of Eleusis, and many
other circumstances described in the preceding parts of this work— I cannot help suspecting that
the counterpart of the crucified person described by Minutius, is to be found in these two works.
It is a very important fact, that the whole of the mythos which I have given from the Monthly
Magazine is taken in part from the book of Ecclesiasticus, and in part from that of the Wisdom
of Solomon, hereby affording a high probability, that the whole mythos was originally in each of
them ; but that it has been destroyed, or at least so much mutilated in each book as to render it
in each case unobservable on slight inspection. In fact, after the time of Christ, it would be dis-
liked equally by Jews and Christians, Of course the Jews have not these books in their Canon,
because they have no books in their Canon after Haggai, who lived long before the entrance of the
sun into Pisces, or the time when this eighth or ninth avatar was supposed to have lived ; but the
two books most clearly prove that, in the secret history of the Jews, they had the history of the
crucified Avatars like the Gentiles, and that it was their secret doctrine.
I now beg my reader to look back to the Appendix to Volume I. p. 832, and to observe what I
have said respecting the Gospel of John, found in the vault under the ancient Jewish temple* I
have there noticed a pillar under the Temple of Jerusalem, on which we are told, by Nicephorus
Callistus, that the Gospel of John was found, to Which I beg my reader to refer, I have there
said, that I thought nothing was more likely than that this gospel should have been concealed
there from a time long anterior to the Christian sera. Here were concealed, in the temple, the lead-
ing Gnostic doctrines as displayed by me in the last chapter of the first volume, and the history of
Jesus the son of Sirach, which we have just read, and which would as evidently apply to the his-
tory of the Jesus of the eighth age, as to the Jesus of the ninth age, The Christians have evidently
got possession of this book, and have accommodated it to the history of Jesus, the Nazarite of Sa-
maria. It is of no use to meet this by shewing parts in John's gospel which would not apply to Jesus
of Sirach. Mr, JEvanson has proved, (in his Dissonance of the Gospels,) that this Gospel was
never written by perhoi»s connected with Judaea, and that it is full of interpolations, almost from
1 Sec Calmet's Diet, on the word WISDOM, for some information on this subject. This reminds me of the account
in Enoch of the Elect one shin, noticed in Volume I. p. 549.
* Eees's Ency. 3 Ibid. * Vide Appendix to Vol. I. p. 838.
JEWISH INCARNATION*.
one end to the other. It was accommodated to uhat was wanted, though in some respects awk-
wardly enough; for the firbl chapter betrays the Gnosis and Cabala in every line.1
Perhaps I shall be told, that the story of the book of John having been found in the crypt of the
ancient temple is a forgery of the Papists'. Protestant devotees easily dispose of unpleasant facts,
and blind themselves b} such kind of assertions 5 and undoubtedly their brother Paulites of Rome
have given them plausible grounds enow for them. But it must be asked, in this case, Why the
Christians, after the time of Con&tantinea should wish to teach that the Jews concealed the Gospel
of John, in so solemn a manner, in this the most sacred place of their temple ? Here I am quite
certain, if persons would put aside their vulgar piejudices they would see, that there is a high
piobability that the story of Nicephorus, as far as the finding of the book goes, is true, and that
all the remainder of his story is made up to accommodate the fact to his gospel history or Chris-
tian faith, I believe it is maintained both by the Papist and Protestant churches, that the
gospel history of John was not written till after the burning of the temple. But whether written
before or after that event, who should put it into the Jewish crypt ? It was directly against the
interest of the Christians to have put it there, as well as against that of the Jews, unless it formed
a part, as I have suggested, of the Jewish secret Cabala. Supposing the Gospel of John to have
been put into the crypt by the Jews, what could have been their object? If they believed the
book, they were instantly Christians. If they did not, they must have detested and not venerated
it. All Christians hold that from long before the time of the writing of John, the gospel histories
of the other three evangelists had been written, and universally dispersed in the world, and that
the book of John had been in like manner dispersed from the time it was composed.
The books of Ecclesiastieus and Wisdom most clearly prove, that the Jews had the mythos, and
that it was a secret also. All this tends wonderfully to support the whole of the theory of the
becret doctrineb and mythos which I have been unfolding.
Suppose it a pure, unadulterated lie of Callifatus* : for what object did he lie ? People seldom lie
without some object. It could add no credibility to the genuineness of this book, written, as every
one mu&t know, in that day, if it were the fact, long after the destruction of the detested temple.
It is very improbable, given as that age was to lying, that Callistus should risk so absurd and so
unnecessary a lie. The probability is, on the evidence, that the story is true, and that all the
appendages told about the temple by Callistus, are awkward lies to endeavour to account for this
disagreeable, and, to him probably, unaccountable fact.
We are not to suppose that the book found and called the Gospel of John would be, word for
word, the same as that which we have j a loose and general resemblance would be quite sufficient
to cause and to justify the assertion of Callistus. The whole, in a very striking manner, supports
and justifies what I have said in Volume I. p, 198, respecting the Jewish incarnations ; and it also
supports, in a striking manner, the doctrine which I have held, that the JfpijS-tiau mythos was the
secret mystery of Eleusis, Delphi, and, indeed, of ail nations*
Tbe observations of the learned Calruet that the Latin language, into which the books of Eccie-
siasticus and Wisdom are translated, was obsolete, is very important, as tending to shew, that the
doctrine of a crucified God existed in Italy from a time long anterior to the Christian aera. *
1 I refer those persons, who cannot reconcile their minds to the dearth of information in the Jewish books respect-
ing the diffeient avatars, to Mr. Whiston's Emy on the True Teat of the Old Testament, for a decisive proof that
these books have been very gieatly corrupted since the Christian sera, and coirupted, too, for the express purpose of
concealing' every thing respecting our Messiah or any Messiah or dvatar. I have on another occasion praised the Jews
for not corrupting their books ; more inquiiy has proved to me, that my praise was very unmerited.
BOOK II. CHAPTER III0 SECTION 8. 127
I must now beg my reader to review all the different accounts of the mythos which he has seen
in all quarters of the world— lastly, taking that of Tibet, the part of the world whence the loudi
came, and let him consider all the proofs of the identity between it and Rome— the same monks
and monasteries, nuns and nunneries, by the same names of Beguines, (Romish monks and Beguine
nuns, as it will be said, founded by Nestorians,) the same tria vota constantialia, the same tonsures
and dresses, the three sacraments of orders, eucharist, and baptism, and many other things, — and
I think he will at once be obliged to allow, that there are in both the remains of the same mythos
which I have been describing. In Rome, in its rites and ceremonies, it remains almost perfect,
and in Tibet nearly the same.
8. I now request my reader to turn to the history of Pythagoras, given in Volume I. pp. 150,
151, and to consider carefully all the particulars enumerated respecting him, as they so remarkably
coincide with the gospel history of Jesus Christ $ then to p. 168 ; then to p. 210, and observe the
close connexions of the Indian avatars and the date of Pythagoras \ and, lastly, to pp. 95, 96, of
this book, and I am quite certain he must admit the identity of the two mythoses, histories, para-
bles, or whatever he may choose to call them, of Jesus and Pythagoras. Mr. Kuster, Dr. John
Jones, and other devotees, have endeavoured to disguise to themselves the fact, by assuming that
Porphyry, Jainblieus, and others, who have written respecting Pythagoras, have copied the life of
Jesus Christ in order to run down the Christians : but unfortunately for these writers their fine-
spun web is at once broken to pieces by the observation of honest old Maurice, that the most im-
portant facts are taken from the works of authors who lived before the Christian sera*
Now I contend that, when all the peculiar circumstances are taken into consideration, there is a
high probability that in the man crucified of Minutius, we have Pythagoras ; and that the Chris-
tians, from whom we receive all our books, have suppressed the history of the crucifixion, and
inserted in the place of it the story, that Pythagoras was burnt in his house by the populace. We
must not forget that he established his school at Cortona, which I have shewn, in Volume I. p. 787,
was the same as Cristona, and that we learn from Jerom, that one of the earliest of the names
borne by the Christians, was the same as that of South India, Crestons,— of India, whence we have
seen the Camasene, the Loretto, the Pallatini, the Saturnia, &c., &c., came to Italy.
There can be no doubt that wisdom is a quality of man which can never be desired too much, or
appreciated too highly. An idle attempt has been made to divide what is called the wisdom of
man from the wisdom of God, and the wisdom of man has been called foolishness. It is only
necessary to say to this, that if it be foolishness, it is not wisdom. Nothing can be wisdom, that
is, really toisdom, which does not include within it every thing necessary to man's WELFARE in the
most extensive sense of the word,— welfare here and hereafter. Hence it is very apparent that
man can only approximate to a state of wisdom. From this beautiful and refined view of the sub-
ject has arisen the idea that this godlike quality, in fact, well dqperring to be classed among the
Divine attributes, was incarnated in some degree in every human being. This gives us the expla-
nation of the Hindoo assertion, that there have been hundreds of thousands of incarnations.
Whenever we get to the bottom of the doctrines of these people, we are sure to find that they, the
sages of old, possessed no small or common share of the quality we here treat of. l
But though, on a superficial consideration of this subject, we may be led to assign this attribute
1 Probably the seven wise men of Greece were the Genii or divine incarnations of Wisdom or the Logos of the seven
cycles, misunderstood by the Greeks, which had preceded the times of the authors who lived in the cycle preceding
the Christian sera, which made the eighth before Christ. Of the person who was the Hero of that age, of course they
could not speak with certainty. Perhaps they sought him in Alexander the Great
328 _ JEWISH INCARNATION.
to the Supreme Being, yet the profound sages of India, the Pythagorases of the East, did not dare
to assign it to the Supreme as an attribute or quality ; but they assigned it, in the only way they
could do so, viz* by way of an emanation, from the Supreme to the Trimurti or Trinity, If it be
aaid by objectors, that the Supreme, the Tlaryp ayj/a>s"0£, could not cause it to emanate from him,
if he had it not ; the reply is, that substance and all matter are, according to the doctrine of these
objectors, in the same predicament ; and here we arrive again at the true meaning of the illusion.
How can WE know what are the attributes of the To Oi> — of the Haryp aymw, how vain and
monstrous to attribute to Him any thing of which we have only received a knowledge through the
fallible medium of OUR senses! All above the Trimurti is illusion, as is indeed the Trimurti itself,
It is impossible to conceive a word more appropriate. It is the Maia; it is the Brahme-Maia.
I now beg my learned reader to bear this in rnind, and then to turn to his Cruden's Concordance
and read the texts which he will find there under the head of Wisdom. My unlearned reader, not
used to consult Cruden, if any such should ever dip into this passage of my work, may consult the
Apocryphal books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus ; and, lastly, he may consult the book of Ayub
or Job, * brought from Upper India to Arabia ; from which beautiful and sublime allegory, if he
understand it, he may really learn Wisdom, — a wisdom more precious, indeed, than the compass
to the manner, 2 — wisdom, indeed, above all price — the wisdom of patience and submission to the
Divine decree — an humble resignation and contentment with our lot, and a firm reliance on the
goodness of the Supreme Creator, as designing ultimately, although perhaps through temporary
misery, to bring us to eternal happiness. 3
Whenever the Holy Ghost was described as given to man, it was in the form of fire, if visible to
the eye. Its effects always were, wisdom accompanied by power ; but the power was never sup-
posed to exist independently of the wisdom. This wisdom was the Holy Ghost, as we have seen,
and whenever we closely analyse this, we always find the igneous principle at the bottom. Is it,
then, a wonder, that we find the ancient Indian, Chaldean, or Collidean loudi, and the Persians,
in the earliest and most uncorrupted state of their religion, offering their adoration to the solar
fire, either as the emblem of the creative wisdom and power, or as the Wisdom and Power itself ?
Is it not surprising that the popes, in their anxiety to support this doctrine, should have yielded to
the popular wish in adopting the rites and ceremonies with which the ancient system, in fact the
system of the real yva>ri$, was always accompanied ?
To understand perfectly all the beauties of the doctrine of Wisdom, much and profound medita-
tion on the word is necessary. It must be considered in all its bearings, which are almost in-
numerable.
1 The least attention to the names of $ie actors in Genesis and Job will shew that they are parts of the same raythos,
8 Job xxviii 18: "For the price of wisdom is above rubies" This ought to be rendered, For the price of wisdom i&
above the loadstone or magnets, (see CELTIC DRUIDS, p, 113,) and, consequently, above the mariner's compass, well
known to the ancients. But how beautiful is the simile of the magnet or loadstone to the Supreme and to wisdom —
causing to emanate and its invisible power or influence to draw to it the iron — and, again, pointing at its pleasure to
its favourite north— where it ** sits in the sides of the north," guiding amidst the dangerous shoals and quicksands the
benighted mariner ' All this, and much more, is lost in the nonsensical rubies.
3 Jf we consider the Chaklce language of South and North India to be the hame, and that language to be the origin
of theTamul, ive shall have no difficulty in thinking it probable that the principal actor in the book of Job, Eliphaz
the Teman-ite or Tm-an-ite, was a Tamulite; the syllable an in Te-man being only the terminating en, which we know
was a peculiarity of this language. We must not forget the Tamul Kaliowakim, which can, in fact, be called nothing
but a book of wisdom, if the book in our canon deserves the name. The Persians had their book of Soplii or Wisdom;
so had the Jews; and so had the Tarns— no doubt iviitten in their alphabet of sixteen letters See Jeremiah xlix, 7.
The Goddess Cali uas from the Greek Katof beautiful, and the Latin Calleo and Callidus, a cunning or wise person.
BOOK II, CHAPTER III. SECTION 9. 129
9. If we turn our minds back to what we have seen, we shall find with the Romish church
every rite of Paganism ; every thing which has been disguised by being charged to the Gnostics is
found there, without a single exception. Irenaeus was evidently a Gnostic. If he were not, how
came he to place the Zodiac on the floor of his church ? a part of which, not worn away by the
feet of devotees, is yet remaining. He was of the sect of the Christ not crucified. How is all
this to be accounted for, except that what the first Christian fathers all taught was true, namely,
that there was an esoteric and an exoteric religion ? A great part of what I have unfolded, indeed
almost the whole of it, applies to the Gnostics ; that is, to the Jesus described by the disputed
chapters of Matthew and Luke— to Jesus of Bethlehem. St. Paul preaches, in a very pointed
manner, Christ crucified ; this was in opposition to the Chiist not crucified of the Gnostics ; and,
in later times, of the Manichaeans and Mohamedans. Gnosticism was the seciet religion of the
conclave. They had Jesus of Bethlehem for the people, Jesus of Nazareth for the conclave and
the cardinals. For the people, they had and have Jesus crucified; for the conclave, Jesub not
crucified. This will appear to many persons at first absolutely incredible. Most fortunately the
church has been guilty of the oversight of letting the passage of lienseus escape. One of the
earliest, most celebrated, most respected, and most quoted authority of its ancient bishops, saints,
and, martyrs, tells us in distinct words, that Jesus was not crucified under Herod and Pontius
Pilate, but that he lived to be turned fifty years of age. This negatives the whole story of Herod
and Pontius Pilate. This he tells us on the authority of his master St. Polycarp, also a martyr,
who had it from St. John himself, and from all the old people of Asia, It will, perhaps, be said,
that Irenaeus was a weak old man. He was not always old, and he must have heard this when
young, under his master Polycarp, and have retained the knowledge of it during his whole life,
and thus must have had plenty of time to inquire into the truth of what he had heard; and,
weak or not, he was a competent witness to the dry matter of fact, viz. that he was told it by St.
Polycarp and the elders of Asia.
The escape of this passage from the destroyers can be accounted for only in the same way as
the passage of Minutius Felix. Two passages escaped, among, probably, thousands destroyed,
of which we know nothing, under the decrees of the Emperors, yet remaining, by which they were,*
ordered to be destroyed.
We have seen great numbers of remains of the mythos of the different incarnations of the Budd-
haSj Cristnas, Salivahanas, &c., in India, recurring again and again in each cycle, as foretold by
the Cumaean and Erythraean Sibyl, before the time of Christ. We have seen all the things which
happened to the Xps*$ro£ foretold before his birth. We have seen that the mythos of the crucifix
was common to all nations, before the time of Jesus of Nazareth, from Thule to China. When-
ever our travellers in India found any nations holding the doctrines of this universal mythos, the
history of Adonis or Tammuz, which, of course, though substantially the same, vary in the detail,
they instantly determined them to be corrupted Christians. A similar effect took place in Italy.
The ancient proofs of this mythos were either destroyed as corruptions, or adopted : the latter was
the case in vast numbers of very ancient crucifixes and paintings of the Bambino, on which may
be seen the words Deo Soli. Now these two words can never apply to Jesus Christ. He wab
not Deus Solus in any sense, according to the idiom of the Latin language and the Romish faith.
Whether we construe the words to the only God, or to God alone, they are equally heretical. No
priest in any age of the church would have thought of putting them there. But finding them
there, they tolerated them. Without examination they took for granted that they could apply to
no one but their God, and endeavoured to explain away their Unitarian meaning as well as they
were able. These considerations most satisfactorily account for the disappearance of the heathen
VOL. H. S
130 OBSERVATIONS.
crucifix In Italy, India, and Britain. Where it was not destroyed it was adopted. The passage of
Minutius Felix places its existence out of reasonable doubt.
Upon the fire tower at Brechin, described in my CELTIC DRUIDS, pp. xlvi., xlvii., plate 24, we have
the man crucified and the Lamb and Elephant. As I have said there, I thought these completely
proved the modern date of the tower, but I now doubt this \ for we have, over and over again, seen
the crucified man before Christ. We have also found " the Lamb which taketh away the sins of
the world" among the Carnutes of Gaul, before the time of Christ. And when I couple these and
the Elephant, or Ganesa, and the ring, and its cobra, Linga, lona, and Nandies, found not far from
the tower on the estate of Lord Castles, with the Colidei, the Island of lona and li, and the Hebrew
names, &c., found in Wales, I am induced to doubt my former conclusion. The Elephant, the
Ganesa of India, is a very stubborn fellow to be found here. The ring, too? when joined with the
other matters, I cannot get over. All thebe superstitions must have come from India whilst the
Hebrew, that is, Celtic language, was in use.
That the ideas of the Trinitarian character of the Deity should be taken from the doctrines of the
ancient philosophers, will surprise no one who considers how much they are praised by the most re-
spectable of the Christian fathers— I speak of Clemens Alexandrinus, Justin, Ammonius Saccas,
Origen,&c. Clemens expressly says, that the rudiments of celestial wisdom, taught by Christ, may be
found in the philosophy of the Greeks ; this is Esoteric Christianity. And Justin says, that Socrates
was a Christian, and that, before the advent of Jesus Christ, philosophy was the way to eternal life.
He calls it Msy/g-ov «r^/xa, "a thing raost acceptable ia the sight of God, and the only sure
guide to a state of perfect felicity," The opinion of the early fathers on this subject may be seen
at length in Vol. II. of Vidal's translation of the Commentaries of Mosheim, note, p. 114,
The division of the secret Christian religion into three degrees, the same as the division at
Eleusis, namely, Purification, Initiation, and Perfection, described in my first Volume, p. 822, is
of itself sufficient under the circumstances to prove the secret religions of the Christians and
Gentiles to be the same.
In Mosheim's Commentaries, Cent. II., may be found almost innumerable proofs, that a double
meaning was universally, or very nearly universally, acknowledged to be contained in the gospel
histories, until after the middle of the second century. But it is Mosheim's object to represent
this as an innovation, introduced about that time $ he therefore very skilfully assumes that no
Christian writers before the time of Justin held this doctrine, though he is obliged to admit that it
was held by Philo and the Jews. Mosheim must have well known, that the double meaning was
held by all authors whom we possess before the year 150, as well as, I believe, by all after it, for
many years. I challenge any polemic to produce to me the undisputed work of any author before
that year, in which it is not expressly supported. But I object to pretended quotations from the
works of the ancients by Patilites. If the reader will peruse Mosheim's Commentaries, keeping in
mind that his object is to represent the Arcani disciplines, or, as he calls it, that more secret and
sublime theology styled ly Clement of Alexandria yva)(ri$, as a new doctrine, he must, I am certain,
be obliged to see that Mosheim most abundantly, but unwillingly proves, that it was the received
doctrine from the beginning, and no new thing. In fact, the literal exposition was not adopted by
the higher classes of society, till all classes were equally degraded in intellect; then the literal
meaning of both the Old and New Testaments was, for the first time, received by the higher
ranks ; and the existence of a secret doctrine began to be denied.
The favourite objects with Ammonius, as appear from'the disputations and writings of his dis-
ciples, which I stated in Volume I. pp. 824, 825, were those of not only bringing about a reconci-
liation between all the different philosophic sects, Greeks as well as barbarians, but also of pro-
OBSERVATIONS. 131
ducing a harmony of all religions, even of Christianity and Heathenism, and of prevailing on
all the wise and good men of every nation to lay aside their contentions and quarrels, and to unite
together as one large family, the children of one common mother. With a view to the accom-
plishment of these ends, therefore, he maintained, that divine wisdom had been first brought to
light and nurtured among the people of the East by Hermes, Zoroaster, and other great and sacred
characters ; that it was warmly espoused and cherished by Pythagoras and Plato, among the
Greeks; from whom, although the other Grecian sages might appear to have dissented, yet that
with nothing more than the exercise of an ordinary degree of judgment and attention, it was very
possible to make this discordance entirely vanish, and shew that the only points on which these
eminent characters differed were but of trifling moment, and that it was chiefly in their manner of
expressing their sentiments that they varied. l Surely nothing could be more desirable than the
objects aimed at by Ammonius, or more deserving of the exertions of a good man.
Amidst all the confusion of sects, two leading doctrines may be perceived — that of those who
held the literal meaning, at the head of which was Paul 5 and that of those who held the allegori-
cal or learned, of which were Pantsenus, Clemens, Origen, Justin, Philo, and Plato.
In reply to these observations I shall have some foolish explanations pointed out to me, given
by or attributed to Clemens, Origen, &c., of the allegories. This mode of treating the subject
may serve to blind readers of little thought, but can never change the facts, either that allegory,
i. e. parabolic reasoning, was meant, or that it was attributed to these writings by the first Chris-
tians, The foolishness of the explanations (probably only given as a matter of state policy) may
be fairly urged against admitting allegory, but against the fact that the writings were intended to
be allegorical, it can never be urged.
The more I reflect upon Gnosticism, the more I am convinced that in it we have, in fact, the
real science of antiquity — fora long time almost lost — but, I trust, by means of our oriental dis-
coveries, yet to be recovered. Perhaps, from being placed in a situation to take a bird's eye view
of its various departments, we may be better qualified to form a just estimate of it than any of
our predecessors for some thousands of years past. In order to do this, we must, I think, divest
our minds of the respect with which we have been accustomed to look upon the early Christian
authorities, and to consider them as in reality no better guides than we consider the leaders of our
sects of Ranters, Jumpers, and genuine Calvinists 5 and, I apprehend, though a Wilberforce and a
Halhed may sometimes be found in modern, as an Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus were in
ancient times, yet no philosopher will think of placing even those persons in the same grade of
intellect with the learned and profound Locke, or the unlearned glove-maker of Salisbury, 2 or the
printer of America.
Ammonius Saccas, the greatest of the early fathers, held Jesus Christ in veneration, as a person
of a divine character and a teacher of celestial wisdom. 3 It was not till after the time of Justin
Martyr that the Paulites of Rome began to prevail against the philosophers of Alexandria, where,
in its catechetical school, the original Cftmtianity was taught ; and from the hands of such men
as Plato, Philo, Pantsenus, and Ammonius, it fell into the hands of such men as Calvin, Brothers,
Wilberforce, and Halhed ; and the consequence was, that instead of a religion of refined philosophy
and WISDOM, it became a religion of monks and devil-drivers, whose object, by the destruction of
books and their authors, was to get the upper hand of those they could not refute, and to reduce
all mankind to their own level. With these people, the popes, who were equally desirous of
power, formed an alliance, and, to conceal this, fabricated the Acts of the of the Apostles, the
1 Mosheim's Comm. Cent, it p. 132. * Thomas Clwbb. a Mobheim's Comm. ut sup. p. 127.
S '2
J32 OBSlvRVATIONS.
Latin character of which is visible in every page : for a proof of this, Mr. Evanson's Dissonance 01
the Gospels may be consulted.
The sect of early Christians, the lowest in intellect of all, having, with the assistance of an un-
principled conqueror, obtained possession of the supreme authority, did precisely what the follow-
ers of Cranmer, the Ranters, and the Calvinists, would do at this day if they had the power,—
they destroyed all their superiors in science, and burnt their books) and we, following after them,
being in fact their children, inherit their confined and mistaken views. Our minds, by the vicious-
ness of our education, are unable to form a correct estimate of our own feebleness ; and until we
are convinced of this truth, we shall in vain endeavour to search after the lost science of antiquity,
I have found the difficulty of unlearning the false learning of my youth, much greater than that of
acquiring the real learning which 1 possess. Very truly has Thomas Burnet said, SAPIENTIA
PRIMA EST, STULTITIA CARUISSE l
M. Matter has observed, that, in real knowledge, we are very little in advance of the ancients
on that kind of subjects on which we treat ; that, though we are very verbose upon many which
are of a trifling and unmeaning import, upon great ones we are silent.2 For an instance of
what I mean, I ask, Whence comes the soul, and whither goes it ? How is it combined with
matter, and how is their reparation effected ? The observation of M. Matter is very just. For-
tunately, perhaps, for me, the discussion of these points is riot in my plan; I have only to notice
the history of the attempts to remove the difficulties with which, in all ages, they have been sur-
rounded : and, I think, whether true or false, the candid reader will allow, that the system of the
oriental GNOSIS was, as I have called it, beautiful and sublime.
Throughout the whole of my work, it has been my sedulous wish to conduct my abstruse inveb-
tigations with the strictest impartiality, and never to flinch from a consideration of imaginary
injury to religion 3 for, if religion be false, the sooner it is destroyed the better ; but if it be true,
there can be no doubt that veritas 2wcevalebit, and that it is very well able to take care of itself.
But I will not deny, that when I meet with any theory which takes religion out of my way, and
leaves to me the free investigation of the records of antiquity, I receive great pleasure 5 for my
object is not to attack religion : my object has been to inquire into the causes of innumerable facts
or effects which have hitherto baffled the efforts of the most industrious and learned inquirers.
Such is the observation made by the learned Parkhurst on the subject of Hercules and Adonis,3
that they are symbols or types of what a future Saviour was to do and suffer. It must be obvious,
on a moment's consideration, that all the histories of the births, deaths, resurrections, &c., of the
different Gods, may be easily accounted for in the same manner ; and if this be granted, it is
equally obvious, that the nearer they are to the history of Jesus Christ, the more complete sym-
bols they become 5 and thus the development of the ancient histories, to those who admit the doc-
trine of symbols, becomes a handmaid instead of an opponent to the religion.
I am well aware that the doctrine of Mr, Parkhurst comes with but an ill grace from priests }
who have never ceased to suppress information} and that the time of the discovery by Mr. Park-
hurst is very suspicious. But notwithstanding this very awkward circumstance, I beg my philo-
sophic reader to recollect, that the want of principle or the want of sense in priests cannot in fact
change the nature of truth, and that it is very uuphilosophical to permit such want of principle or
want of sense to influence the mind in his philosophical inquiries.
1 See the passage quoted, in Vol. I p. 29. Ed.
* That may be very justly said of us which Sallust said of the Roman Senate, Satis eloquently sapientia parttm,
3 In voce ttf on V. pp. 520, &c.
OBSERVATION'S. 133
Oil the reasonableness of Mr. Parkhurst's doctrine I shall give no opinion : to some persons it
will be satisfactory, to others it will not be so. But, as the opinion of our church, I have a right
to take it. If any ill-judging member of the church should deny this doctrine of Parkhurst's, then
I desire him to account to me in some better way for what we have found in the histories of
Buddha, Cristna, Salivahana, Pythagoras, &c. If he fail in his attempt, let not the honest inquirer
for truth blame me, I have fairly stated Mr. Parkhurst's opinion and mode of accounting for the
facts which I have developed, because I consider them the best which I have seen, and because I
should not have acted with fairness and impartiality had I not stated them. They have a ten-
dency to promote the interests of science, not to injure them,
In his first chapter and seventeenth verse Matthew says, " So all the geneiations from
" Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; and from David until the carrying away into
" Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babjlon unto Christ are
" fourteen generations." Surely nothing can have a more mythological appearance than this,
We must not forget that the Bible says, the age of man is seventy years; by which we have
already seen that the sura of seventy- two years is almost uniformly meant. These three series*
of generations make 42, which multiplied by 71i— 3003. If we add 14 more generations be-
fore Abraham to the 42~56, we shall have 71|x56~4004, the correct orthodox chronological
period. If we then add, in the same manner, 28 for two series more, making 84x7I|> we
shall have six series for the 6000 years, which completes the mythos* Nimrod says, " As
" to their Manichaean romance legends we may observe, that the succession of Great Abad,
<c (Bauddha, or Abaddon from the bottomless pit,) and the thirteen Abads, implies the thirteen
"generations of Solimans or theanthropic rulers from Adam to Nimrod/'1 Now the Great
Abad or Buddha and the thirteen make fourteen, and this makes up the correct number to com-
plete the mythos, as it is evident, from Nimrod, that the Manichaeans made it out. Besides, it
appears that the reckoning, by periods offourteens, is exactly in character with the gospel history*
The author of the Cambridge Key has made an observation which shews, in a very striking man-
ner, the universal nature of the mythos : " I may observe, that of the first fourteen dynasties of
"Manethon, seven are, without names; and that in the first fourteen dynasties of every other
" nation the same omission is observable. The Hebrews only give the names of Adam, and the
" six princes in the race of Seth, who reigned in succession. The Hindus and Chinese give the
" first created, and six princes in the same line: the Chaldaeans those in the race of Cain: each
" nation omits the names in the other race, that is, the names by which they were known as
'< sovereigns. The Old Chronicle, which treats of Upper Egypt, gives the dynasties, or more
" properly reigns, complete, making Noah the fourteenth."* This accounts for the series
of fourteen before Abraham not named by Matthew. It is probable that the difference between
the Samaritan and Hebrew chronology has arisen from a corruption of the Hebrew, to make
it suit to certain mistaken times of the equinoxes or solstices of the Greeks and Romans, of
eight or nine days alluded to by Columella, who is doubtful whether it was eight or nine days—
all which will be noticed at large presently. To prove this, if we take 56 generations and multiply
them by 72, and add for the 8 days and part of 8 days, in all 9 days — 9 generations — 9x72—648,
we shall hax'e4680.3 But if we take the nearly correct time for the precession in one sign,
-f 2153-f 2153, -f35/j-f 16^zz374~5 degrees, and a fraction of one degree, we have 4680; and if we
take another fraction of one degree, we have 2153-f 2153-f 357?4-36f, we have 4700. If we mul-
tiply the more correct Manwantara, 71 1 by 56, the number of generations, we have 4004. Here
we see the real cause of the difference between the Samaritans and Jews. The former took the
Vol. II, p, 509 ' Vol. II, p, 135. 3 See Vol. I, p. 191,
134 OBSERVATIONS.
correct time by the precession, which did not cause the error of the Greeks and Romans of 9
days ; the latter took the common erroneous Greek and Roman, and thus got their 4004 years.
It seems to me impossible to devise any thing more satisfactory than this. We must not forget
what I have said formerly, that these calculations will all be right if made in round numbers, if
the error do not exceed 71 or 72 years, which mode of calculation, for the festivals, is justified by
the state of the case, as well as by the observation of Columella. This we shall see presently*
An Antara, often called Outar1 by our travellers, of India, means a generation or age, and a
Manw-antara is an age, that is evidently an age of man, and consists of seventy-two years, or of
seventy-one and a fraction— rather better than a half— the age of man spoken of in the Bible.
Here we have the fifty-six Manwantaras exactly agreeing with Usher. It will not have been for-
gotten that, in our calculation of the cycles, we always deducted for the precession of one sign, 2160
years. An age or generation was also thirty years. The Persians said, that there were seventy-two
Solomons, that is, seventy- two tuise ta&i before the flood: these were 30x72=2160, the years of
the precession in one sign. In these cases the Soluxni were probably incarnations of wisdom or
the sun, reigning in the towns where the temples of Solomon were built. Mr. Niebuhr has con-
tended that, from the peculiar division of the first kings of Rome into astrological peiiods, making
up the number 360, combined xvith other circumstances, it ib apparent that not a leal history but
a mythos must have been intended, and this reasoning has been icceived by learned men with
almost univeisal approbation. Now, in consequence of meeting with the history of Solomon and
Saul, (or Talut 2 as he is called both in India and Western Arabia,) and many other particulars
of the Jewish history both in India and Western Syria, the use of astrological numbers in the his-
tory of the Jews, and the extraordinary and unaccountable fact, that Herodotus never names the
magnificent empire of Solomon, it is apparent that the whole Jewish history is an allegory, is, in
fact, the same kind of history as that of the first three hundred years of Rome. 3 It is one of the
parables of the Christian religion, in the gospel histories of which Jesus Christ is made, in so
peculiar a manner, to teach his doctrines. The peculiarity of the fourteen numbered periods at
once proves that this was not meant for real history. It is totally incredible that such round
numbers should come out in real life and complete the sum of the 6000 years. The Mathemati-
cians or Chaldeans, as I shall presently shew, were the only persons who really understood the
principle of the mythos in the lime of Caesar, which induces me to believe that the whole X^(r-
tian mythos was a Masonic or Rossicrucian mystery; first, in part, let out by the publication,
under Ptolemy, of the Jewish Scriptures, (or of what were perhaps only a part4 of the Jewish
Scriptures,) and never, in fact, all openly known in any thing approaching to a whole — never put
together or explained openly, until now so done by me. It would originally be known at every
great temple, like Delphi, Eleusis, Dodona, &c. As time advanced, parts of it got out by the
treachery, indiscretion, or insanity of the initiated, and all became every day more doubtful, in
consequence of the neglect of intercalary days, which was throwing the system into confusion.
1 The word Outara means an age, and a Man-outara is an age of man. * See Vol. I. pp. 546, 740, 741,
3 The Abbe* Bdzin says, "No Grecian author cited Moses before Longinus, who lived in the reign of Aurelian "
Phil, of Hist, p 159 This seems a very curious and important observation indeed.
4 The book of Genesis shews evident marks of its being a compilation, and of mutilation. The way in which the
tree of life is named, ch. ii. ver. 9, shews that some account of it, now wanting, must have preceded. The amalgama-
tion of the X/^-tian with the Jewish mythos in North and South India, in which they differ from the present canonical
mythos of the Jews, which does not include the crucifixion, resuirection, and ascension, &c., shews that we have not
the whole; but we have it clearly in the Apocrypha, which proves that the mythos was a secret doctrine. This is con-
firmed by the extraordinary circumstance of the whole mythos being found, as we have seen, in Mexico— Book I.
Chapter IV.
a
OBSERVATIONS. 135
Whenever we get back to the earliest point to which we can go, xve always find the Chaldei or
Mathematici — those persons who are said by Josephus to have handed down the cycle from the
Antediluvians, the persons, I think, (as shewn by Mr. Hammer,) who, under the name of Mathe-
matici, were certainly Freemasons. The historical evidence that the Chaldeans were Chasdim, or
that the Chasdim were Chaldeans, is clear; but I think Mr. Bryant's objection to the etymologi-
cal derivation of Chaldean from Chasdim is well founded. The fact, probably, was, that the Chas-
dim or Chasidim, were persons of the college of Casi, which was in Ur of the Chaldees, or Callidiia,
or, in the country of the di-cali or ia of the the holy Cali. We have a Casi to which students in
medicine went to study the Chaldean language in two places in North India : Benares, anciently
called Casi, and the temple of Solomon in Casi-mere. 1 This order of Cyclopes or Calidei or Ma-
thematici were the builders of Stonehenge and A bury in the West, and of Dipaldenha, the temples
of Solomon, the Pyramids, &c., &,c., in the East, beginning with the simplest of all temples, a
Gilgal, that is, stone circle, and ending with the highly finished York Minster, The Chasdim or
Kasdim or Casi-di-im were Kasideans, and both the same as the Callidei or Chaldei or Chasidim.
The Chalidi were followers of Cali, the female deity of love j the Casideans were from anrr ^
as we say Chrs, Bpo>£, the male deity. In my opinion that the Chasideans or Kasideans were
Chaldei and Mathematici and Freemasons, I am supported by Scaliger, who makes them knights
of the Temple, to whom the duty was specially devolved of maintaining that structure. Scaliger
says, that they were not a sect, but an order or fraternity, and consisted of men of great wealth
and power.2 The circumstance that the Kasideans or Casi- deans were an order, and not a sect, is
very important ; for this accounts for their being found in several sects or religions, like Freemasons,
and for the Templars being Kasideans. The description applies to the Freemasons in every parti-
cular ; and this accounts for their being found among the Essenes, in consequence of which they have
been thought to have been Essenes, I have some suspicion that the Caraites were a branch of them,
and were named after the district called Cozar or Caesar, whence the Caspian sea was called Kisr.
I think we may be pretty certain that the Kasideans were masons and successors of the Cyclopes,
the fabricators of the stone circles, cromlehs, &c.3 It is very curious to observe, that not one in a
thousand of the inquirers into the antiquities of nations ever condescends to bestow a thought on
the authors of these very numerous edifices, and the most stupendous monuments on the face of
the earth — to be found in all countries, even of the new as well as of the old world. I find from
Mr. Sharon Turner,4 that the year of the Anglo-Saxons began on the 25th of December. The night
before that day, they called Moedrenech, Mother Night. It was spent in religious ceremonies. Our
month of December was called Giuli, or CErra Geola, and the month of January was called CEftera
Geola. Bede says, the Saxons called the months above-named Geola from the turning of the sun on
that day.5 Now there does not seem any reason to believe that they had learned this from either
the Romans or the Christians ; and, if this be admitted, we have here, in the correct fixation of the
solstice, a decisive and triumphant proof that the Barbarian Saxons were better skilled in astro-
nomy than either the Greeks or Romans, in the time of Caesar. This affords strong presumptive
evidence that the priests or Druids, or Callidei, were descendants or had derived their learning
1 See Vol. I. p. 702. a Basnage, Hist Jews, B. n. Ch. xi p, 126.
3 The numerous circles which are found in India aie said by the inhabitants to have been erected by a race of people
culled Chseones or Chaons, who are said to have been pigmies. Why they are supposed to be pigmies I cannot ima-
gine ; but the word Chseon is only the aspirated ^Eon or the Greek A/«v, and has the meaning of cycle as well as ema-
nation from the sun, and is thus a cyclop, one of the Pi-clo 01 of the Cyclops.
* History of the Pagan or Anglo-Saxons, Vol. II. Ch. iv. * The Geola is evidently our goal, used in racing.
136 OBSERVATIONS.
from the Chaldeeans of Tartary, or Eastern Scythia, or North India. There are only two ways of
getting over this. The first is, to attribute it to accident. The second is, to suppose that these
ignorant barbarians took their Festival from the corrected calendar of the Romans — with whom
they were at perpetual war. Man was considered a microcosm by the Mystics 5 and as he was
made after the image of God, and as God was the Kosmos, Mundus, he was made after the image
of the world, the To Oav, the To Ov. We have before observed, in numerous instances, his
close connexion with the renewing cycles, and on this account the first race of one-eyed beings,
called Cyclopes or KuxXozre?, made after the image of God, the sun, had only one eye. After
some time, and for the same reason^ the Hero Gods — Jupiter in the West, and Vishnu in the East,
came to have three eyes in imitation of the supposed image of the Trimurti. In strict accordance
with this was the renewed incarnation of the Solar Deity, the Loyo£, in every cycle, in every
neros, in which every thing was supposed to be renewed — new Argonauts, new Troys, &c. Tims
the Genius of each c\ cle, every year as it revolved, was celebrated nncrocosmically. In allusion
to this, he was born with the new-born Sun on the moment when the sun began to increase on the
25th of December, and he was feigned to die, and be put to death, and to rise from the grave after
three days, at the vernal equinox. The God was continued by renewed incarnation till he came
again, till the cycle ended and was renewed, till the end of the 6000 years. This is still exempli-
fied in the Lamas of Tibet, and in the Popes, in all things yet more similar than, from the lapse of
time and their great distance, could be expected. Here we find the reason why some of the Popcb,
intoxicated with silly vanity, let out the secret and called themselves Gods upon earth ; and this
is the reason why, as incarnations of the Creator of Heaven, Earth, and Hell, they wear the
triple crown. The ceremonies of the Romish church consist almost entirely of scenic representa-
tions of the acts of Jesus Christ. All his history is acted over every year $ a measure well calcu-
lated to keep the mythos in the minds of the people, for which our reading of the gospel histories
has been substituted. Of the same nature were our sacred dramas, or mysteries as they were
called, of the middle ages. Of the same nature were the plays of ^Eschylus, in which, as I have
before remarked, we have the Prometheus bound, so called to disguise ita but which ought to be
the Prometheus crucified* After his resurrection Jesus is said to have gone before his disciples
into Galilee 3 * that is, Fa^-aTuia or N>-^K-^I gl-al-ia, the country of the circle or revolution. We
must not forget that Sir William Drummond proved that all the Hebrew names of places in the
holy land were astronomical. I have no doubt that these names were given by Jobhua when he
conquered, settled, and divided it among his twelve tribes, and that all those names Imd a refe-
rence to the solar mythos. The same mythos prevailed in almost every country, and this is the
reason why we find the same names in every country. They were the bacred or religious names,
the places, piobably, having other common names, and were necessary for their religious ritcw;
their search for the members of Bacchus, of Osiris, &c., or for the journey of the Mary's to look
for the body of Christ. We must not forget that we have the three Mary's in Britain and in
Gaul, one of them the Firgo Paritura, and at Delphi, as well as in Palestine. All the great out-
lines of the mythoses were evidently the same, though, of course, in a long series of years, they
varied in small matters. But the similarity, as we find, would continue the longest in the names
of places and countries, — though, as I have just said, I do not suppose those bacied names wen-
those in common use. I have no doubt that every country and place had two names at least.
Each independent territory had its sacred mount or Olympus, &c, In time, as one state or tribe
Mark xvi. 7.
OBSERVATIONS. 137
conquered another, or as a country of twelve tribes divided, the two mythoses would be thrown
together or divided, and perhaps a new mount adopted by part of the tribes, as a new mount \ui<-
adopted at Jerusalem, It was not in the nature of things that either the twelve tribes or their
mythos should always continue. We have hundreds of Juptters or Gods I E, n* or Jab ; all the
Godfa were Jah and Rajah, or Roi-Jah. We have numbers of Mithras, Bacchuses, Herculeses,
&c.j &c. Sometimes they were multiplied by the genii of the nine cycles, all going by the same
name. Sometimes, as in the case of Bacchus or Hercules, by the God or Genius of one cycle
taking the same name in man) different countries. All this has led to the confusion which, in
these matters, has hitherto prevailed, and necessarily prevailed, In my opinion the singularity of
the regular periods observed by Niebuhr sufficiently proves the mythos ; but there are traces of
another period, of which Mr. Niebuhr had no knowledge, to be found in Cato, l who gives a
different account, and sayb, that Troy was taken 432 years befoie the foundation of Rome. Here
we have evidently the two numbers on which the cycles of 2160 — 21,600 — 432,000, are founded. In
the multitude of our researches we have very often met with the word sam nttf sm'or nD sm9 as
a name of the sun, I feel greatly surprised at myself that my mind should have never be*»n turned to
this curious and important word, evidently the Roman Sumnaut2 Its numeral power is §—200, Mrr:
40—240. For reasons which we shall soon see, this has probably been its meaning 111 the Latin or
Etruscan, But as I have, in a future book, established the fact on as good evidence (viz. a high
probability) as these matters "will admit, that the last three letters of th.e alphabets were inter-
changeable as far as regards their powers of notation, we may consider the Hebrew meaning to be
the same, namely, 240. In the Hebrew, as a verb, it means to place in order. In its plural, it it>
applied, in the first verse of Genesis, to the planetary bodies, and, generally speaking, I believe it
may be rendered a planetary body, ranking the sun as one — for it is constantly used for the sun.
Mr. Parkhurst observes, that probably the idol Chemin of the ne\v world was the feame word, as it
had the same meaning. Asa name of the sun, it came to denote the trinity (as Mr. Parkhurst
shews that it did). Jn strict keeping with all my previous doctrines, it means to place w order
with great care, and to make waste and utterly desolate and in disorder ; herein exhibiting the
Generator and Destroyer. It meant an onion, from the regular disposition of the involucra or in-
teguments.3 An onion was considered to be O.UM rwv atavwv.
I must now request my reader to turn to Volume I. pp. 647, 648, 658, and he will see it
proved, by various authorities, that the fish Cannes was in name the same ab John. John
was the cousin of Jesus. Now, I think, there can be no doubt, that Arjoon, of the Indian*,,
is the same as the John of the Christians. His name with the prefix Ar, which I do riot un-
derstand, is the same, Arjoon was the cousin of Cristna, and nearly every thing which was
said of Rama is said of Ar-joon. It is remarkable that Cristna and Rama are said to be the
same. Then, if Rama is the same as Arjoon, Arjoon and Cristna must he the same. John
is the cousin of Christ, Arjoon of Cristna. Christ is represented both by the Lamb and by
a Fish or the Fishes. The Lamb is Ram, the Fish is John or Cannes. In the stale of the
Planisphere at the ninth cycle, John or Cannes or Pisces, had been running 300 years, or vuib
declining before Jesus, in the ninth cycle of the Neros, had begun. Though different cycles,
they were, as forming a part of the whole large one of the Zodiac, or 2160 years, the bame. Thus
John had passed 360 years, more than half of a cycle of 600, when Jesus began his cycle.
All the cycles of the Neros would be cycles of the Ram or Lamb, whilst the equinox was passing
J Antiquit Rom Lib i, Sect. Ixxiv p 59; Horn et ses Edit*, par D'Uilmn, p 41.
* Refer to Appendix of first Volume, p. 833, for corruption of Turn, Sain, Cain , it shews Sam to be the original.
* Numb. xi. 5; Paikhurst in voce; Hutchin&on's Works, Vol IV p 262.
T
338 OBSERVATIONS.
through Aries; and of the Fish, whilst it was passing through Pisces. Thus Rama and Ciistna
were the same. Joannes— 240, and RM-240, the name of the sacred number of Rome, or the
city of Rama, as pointed out by Niebuhr. The period of 360 years, which John or Pisces preceded
Jesus, will form a cycle with the 21,600, as well also as Rome's sacred number of 240. Thus we
find Ramas in the history of all the cycles connected with Cribtna, and subsequently we find
Johns. I think the Eastern nations, in a particular manner, attached themselves to the number
0, the van; and the Western to the number o. (We must never forget Pythagoras's doctrine of
numbers ) The first, to the 6x12=72, and 72x6iz432. The latter, to the 5x10=00, and 60X10
—360. The 6, the vau, the even number, was for the female; the 5, the odd, for the male; and the
two united formed the cycle or sacred number, 4320. The five is the n or He, the male in Saxon
and Hebrew. The two together make the Evan ; and also the KKV>, aYua0j=28. Although I can-
not exactly explain how or by what steps it arose, yet it is clear to me that the sacred number,
240, of the Romans, arose from CDltf s?wzz240; and, in the plural, their God Saman. Mr. Niebuhr
has shewn how both the number of 360, and the number of 240, were used by the Romans, in each
case making up their number of 1440, from the destruction of Troy to the founding of Nova
Roma, bv Constantine, on the seven hillb, in Hie Thracian Romelia or the Romclia of Thrace,
uhere the widows were burnt on the funeral piles of their husbands — in a countiy called Sindi,
having the religion of the X^g. Although I cannot explain how it was made out, I think I can
see a high probability, that this mythos of the Romans and of Constantino was closely connected
with, or was an integral part of, the mythos of the East, of Virgil, as we might expect from the
doctrine of Ammonius Saccas, that, in the main, all the religions were the same. I must now
make a few observations on the want of absolute accuracy in round numbers, which shews itself in
almost all the calculations ; but, if we look closely into the matter, we shall observe, that this is
an effect which, in most cases, must necessarily arise from the primary numbers of nature, on
which they are founded, not being accurate. Thus, for instance, the Millenium is founded on the
Neros; but the correct Neros depends, by nature, on the fraction of a second of time : and the
question often presents itself, whether we are to take 2153 or 2160. It is obvious that, by taking
a fraction, I could easily bring out my whole round number of 6000 ; but cut lono f It is suffici-
ently near for the vulgar runners after the Millenium. It is evident, or in a few minutes will be
so, that all these little errors were perfectly well known to the Chaldeans. In addition to these
considerations I shall shew, in a future book, that the Chaldeans foresaw that a Comet would
affect the earth in more than one of its progresses \ and, by its disturbing force, necessarily cause
an irregularity^ from its nature unknown, but, on the whole, even of several years. This is per-
fectly justified by the retardation wlr'ch astronomers observed lo take place in Jupiter when the
Comet [of 1680?] approached that planet.1 I think these considerations are quite sufficient
to answer the above small objections for the present ; and I shall now proceed to the complete
development of the secret Romish system.
If my reader .will revert to Volume I. pp. 175, 18-2, 191, he will observe that the Indian scholars
agree in stating it to be the unanimous doctrine of the Brahmins, that their Cali Yug began 3101
jears before Christ, that, at that time, the flood took place, and that the sun entered the zodiacal
sign Aries at the vernal equinox. Here, in the date of the sun's entrance into Aries, there appears
1 The Author's appaiently premature decease prevented his filling up tlie blank he had here left in his MS, If lu»
leferred to the Comet of 1680, (as submitted in the brackets,) liis statement is dhectly opposed to the conclusions of
Dr. Halley, who, "having observed that" it "came very near Jupiter in the summer of J 681, above a year before lib
last appearance, and remained several months in the neighbourhood of that planet, judged that circumstance alone
sufficient to have considerably ictarded its motion and prolonged the duration of its revolution."— Ebsuy to wunls a
History of the principal Comets, &c , pp, 64, 65, Glasgow,
OBSERVATIONS. 139
to me to be an error of nearly 600 years, which has never been observed by any of our oriented
astronomers* The Brahmins, when questioned upon this point, say, Those events happened when
the Sun and Moon were in a certain position, which was obberved at the time it took place, and
that time is only to be known by back-reckoning. This error is of great moment, and, if I be
right, it is a most extraordinary circumstance that it has been overlooked by all the orientalists :
for the Sun certainly did not enter the sign Aries until about 2520 years before Christ. If our
orientalists did not observe it, the fact proves with how very little attention they read^ and how
very superficially they consider these subjects. At all events I believe they have never made any
observations upon it.
I will now try to explain the error, and to shew how it aro&e. " Columella says,1 the 17th of
ft December the sun passes into Capiicorn ; it is the WINTER SOLSTICE, as Hipparchus will have it.
" The 24th of December is the winter solstice, AS THE CHALD^EAXS OBSKRVB."2
Now it is well known that Caesar, with the assistance of a celebrated Chaldean astronomer from
Egypt, called Sosigenes, ascertained the winter solstice to take place on the 25th of December, at
thirty minutes past one o'clock in the morning. And it is a striking circumstance that he appear**
from the expression of Colnmella to have availed himself of the reckoning of the Chaldeans, whom
my reader will recollect I have shewn to have coine, with Abraham, or the Brahmin, from India,
and whom our historians affect to treat with contempt, as having, in the time of Caesar, become
mere charlatans or conjurors; but who were, as appears from the facts above-named, in reality
the only persons who had a sufficient knowledge of astronomy to correct the calendar, which had
fallen into the utmost confusion. This any one may see by looking at our common globes, where
he will find the Vernal equinox fixed to the 30th of Aquarius, which makes the equinox to fall on
the 25th of Pisces, or March, 1800 years ago, by calculating back the precesbion 25 degiees, at 19.
years to a degree. Now, from the 17th of December (the solstice, accoiding to Hipparchus) to
the 25th, according to the Chaldeans, there is a space of 8 days, which answers to 8 degrees, and
as the solstice precedes a degree in 72 years, it makes in time, calculated on these data, an error
of 576 years: 8x72~o?6. The Brahmins at this day, as we have formerly shewn, fix the en-
trance of the equinoctial sun into the sign Aries and their Cali Yug, 3101 years before the time
Usher fixed for the birth of Christ 5 in which he made a mistake of four years. Now, if we allow
for this error of Usher's of four years, the time to the date of the Cali Yug is 3096 years B. C.,
and the error of the Brahmins is exactly 576 years. For, from the 25th of Pisces, reckoning back
to the first of Aries, there are not 43 degrees, as the Brahmin calculation would require, but 35
degrees only; which number, multiplied by 72? gives 2520 \ and ibis sum added to 576 makes
3096 -f 4n3 100. This proves that the present Brahmins, when they fix their Cali Yug by back
calculation, are exactly in the same error as Hipparchus, the Greeks and the Romans were, as to
the time of the solstice.
The next question which arises is, How the Brahmins fell into this error of eight days in the
date of the solstice, and into its consequent error of 576 years ? And now, I think, we shall find
another striking and curious coincidence, which will go far towards proving that the Hindoo
system must have been founded on observation, near 5000 years before Christ, We have seen
that there were eight Avatars believed to have passed in Siain, and eight Saecula believed to have
passed at Rome, at the birth of Christ. These eight Avatars and Saecula I have shewn to be
Neroses, 3
Lalande, in his astronomy, 4 says, " Si Ton emploie la duree de Tannee que nous connoissons, et
1 Book xi. Ch ii. * Bentley, Hist, A&t. p. 2S1.
* See Vol. I. 1/5-177, 215. 4 Tome II. Ast. 15/0, etl 3.
140 OBSERVATIONS.
" le mois synodiquc tel quo nous Vavons indique ci-devant, c'est-a-dire, des mois de 291} 12h, 44',
" 3", chacun, Ton aura 2bh, 1', 42" de trop, clans les sept mille, quatre cent, vingt-une lunaisons:
" ainsi la lime retarderoit de plus d'un jour au bout de six cents ans." If my leader will look
back to Volume L p. 169, he will find the above passage quoted, and a promise there made that 1
would return to it. From this observation it appears that there was, in fact, an inaccuracy in
each Neros or Saeculum of more than one day in calculating it exactly at 600 years ; which, if the
solstice were settled, as of course it would be by the cycle invented for the purpose of settling it,
but without taking the error into the account, would, in eight Ssecula, cause it to be fixed to
the 17th day of December, instead of the 25th, and produce the mistake of the eight days, and
the consequent error of 576 years. To keep the reckoning right, a day and part of a day ought to
have been intercalated every 600 years,
The truth of what I have just now stated may be shewn in another way. In reality the space
the sun passed through, that is, preceded, from his entrance into Aries to the time of Christ, was
thirty-five degrees, which make or answer to two thousand, five hundred, and twenty years : 35 X
72zi55SO. The time the Brahmins fixed for their Cali Yug and the entrance of the Sun into Aries
being 3100 years B. C, 3100— 2520zzoSO, which was their mistake. But 5SO-f-79ir8, with a
remainder of 4, which, Usher's mistake corrected, is 576, the exact number it ought to be.
The eight degrees answer to the eight days which the solbtice, in the time of Ciusar, was wrong.
In or about the year 3100 was a remarkable conjunction of the planets, as Sir W. Jones, Buill},
and others, profess to have ascertained. This is the pivot on which all the Brahmins' calculations
hinge ; and as the MODERN Brahmins reckoned by the Neros to the time of Christ, without under-
standing the principle of the calculation, tbey thus got wrong in their solstices eight days.
The difficulty which Figulus l and others found in making out the true time arose from inat-
tention to, or ignorance of, the necessity of making the requisite intercalation $ and the error had
reached, in the time of Figulus, to within a very few years of an entire saeculum* This would
increase the difficulty, and, in fact, would render the number of cycles doubtful, — that is, whether
the new cycle — that of Christ — was the ninth or the tenth. This accounts for Virgil's policy in
writing in such an equivocal manner, that his prophecy might answer either to the latter part of
the current cycle, or to the last cycle.
Now, I apprehend, after the philosophers found that the cycle of the Neros made a cycle with
the number of years of the precession in ten signs of the zodiac, namely, in 91,600 years, they
adopted the plan, in calculating their time, of starting from the flood or the Call Yug, both back-
wards and forwards, as a kind of fulcrum, and of deducting the sum of 2160 years, the precession
for one sign, because at that period a new system of calculation necessarily began upon a new
principle. The former calculation was made upon the cycle of 360, the days in a year, and the
lunar time of 30 days in a month. These two formed a perfect cycle : no intercalations would be
wanted : and all the knowledge of astronomy, as far as was of any consequence to the first inha-
bitants, would be known and reduced to the smallest space imaginable. They found, that if they
calculated backwards by the periods of years of precession in a sign, (as they must in future cal-
culate forwards by them, if they meant to keep their time correctly,) these periods would exactly
agree backwards with the calculation forwards ; so that they could calculate backward before the
Cali Yug, as correctly as forwards from it,— the 360 days in a year making a perfect cycle, and
these years, in periods of 360 or 790 or 2160 years, making a perfect c>cle backward, in a circle
to the 21,600 the years in ten signs, as they were obliged to calculate forwards to the same
period. In short, by this contrivance, notwithstanding the gieat change in the lengths of the
1 See Vol. I. pp. 185-187, 2,33,
OBSERVATIONS. J4|
year and month, which I shall explain hereafter, the calculations backwards would be perfectly
assimilated to those forwards, and would, supposing the equinox to precede only about 50" in h
year, or on the average or in mean time to precede after this rate, and that the Soli-lunar period
of 600 years was correct, be also perfectly true. Thus they would be able to calculate by signs
round the circle of the zodiac backwards, as they did in like manner by signs forwards, and, coi-
rectly too, for any length of time. It is also very worthy of observation, that the cycle of SOX)
makes a perfect cycle with the great precessional one of 25,990 years.
Now, if the reader will examine caiefully the different astronomical calculations which I have
made in the fifth book of the first volume, he will find no satisfactory reason given for the fact of
the different arithmetical sums coming out correct from the calculations, the bum of S160 yearb
being first deducted ; though the coincidence of the numbers shewed that it could not be the
effect of accident, but that they must be true, whatever might be the cause. Here we find the
whole satisfactorily explained, and an adequate reason assigned for the conduct of the astrono-
mers. Very certain I am that I shall prove, all the ancients believed that the year was originally
only 360 days long. Whether this be true or false, I contend, thdt I have raised the very highest
probability, that, in their calculations of time, they proceeded upon this belief, and that its admit-
ted duration had changed in a later day.
The lustrums five and six were the roots of all the calculations* The five was the lustrum
when the year was 360 days long : the six when it came to be 365. In the first case the preces-
sion of the equinoxes was supposed to have taken place after the rate of 36" in a degree, and of
36,000 years in the circle. Thus we find the sum of 36,000 to be called the great year. (The
Neros 600, and the Millenium 6000, make cycles with this.) In the second case, when the pre-
cession was supposed to take place in 50", and 25,9"20 in the circle 5 25,920 was the great year.
But with this the former number will not make a cycle j therefore, as said formerly, ten signs
%vere taken, which, at 50" to a degiee, and 72 to a sign, make 21,600 ; and with this, both the jive
and $?"#, and the old numbers, all make cycles. Now, it is worthy of observation, that the five and
its multiples make a cycle with the great precessional year 36,000 ; and the six and its multiples
make a cycle with the great artificial year of 21,600, the united cycle of the two, with the great
year of 36,000, and with the still greater artificial cycle of 432,000, as well as with the real cycle
of -25,920.
The Romans must have had two computations of time, both of which were wrong. For, besides
the misplacing of the solstice, which we have learnt from Columella, their "year differed by an
" excess of 67 days from the true time!' l Now, although some of their festivals, which they did
not understand, might be wrong 67 days, we cannot believe that the solstice could get so far
wrong. We may almost as soon suppose they would mistake the equinox for the solstice.
It is worthy of observation that the persons employed by Caesar were the Chaldeans, and that
these mere fortune-tellers and conjurers, as our priests call them, were so well informed, that they
could fix the time of the solstice to half an hour— to half past one in the morning. It is evident
these Calidei, or Chaldeans, or Casi- deans, or Chasidim, or Mathematici, or Templars, or Rosi-
crucian*., or Nousareans, or Mandaites, or lohnites, or Essenseans, or Carmelites, or Freemasons,
were then the best calculators and astronomers in the world.
Columella * says, " Nor am I ignorant of Hipparchus's computation, which teaches, that the
" solstices and equinoxes do not happen in the eighth, but in the first degree of the signs. But
" in this rural discipline, I now follow the calculations of Eudoxus and Meton, and those of ancient
*< astronomer*, which arc adapted to the public sacrifices $ because husbandmen are both better
' Niebiihr, Vol. I. p 208, ed. Walter. * Book ix, Ch. xiv.
142 OBSERVATIONS.
lC acquainted with that old opinion which has been commonly entertained : nor yet is the nicenes&
" and exactness of Hipparchus necessary to the grosser apprehensions and scanty learning of
" husbandmen." From this it is evident, that the festivals were not fixed with niceness, to use
the words of Columella; but, we may fairly suppose, in whole numbers, which will justify me in
doing the same. Thus, like Colurnella, I have calculated roughly and by round numbers j but this
Mas not the way the Chaldean magicians or conjurors reckoned. They formed their calculation to
ti minute — to thirty minutes past one in the morning ; consequently they must have known that it
would be necessary to intercalate one day and part of a day every 600 years : and this I have no
doubt that they did, wherever they had the regulation of the festivals in their Judsean, secret, ma-
sonic, Xpjer-tiaii festivals.
If my reader have attended closely to what he has read, he will have observed that there is an
error of a day and a part of a day, about one- eighth of a day, every (iOO years, and that I have only
accounted for the day.
This remaining error I shall now account for. I think it will not be denied that I have unveiled
a pretty large number of curious mythoses ; but the most curious of all I have now to unfold. WP
have seen that all the Buddhas, Cristuas, Salivahanas, Adonibes, Atyses, Mithras, Bacchuses*
Herculeses, were put to death and rose again from the grave, part certainly, and all probably, aftei
three days,1 to life and immortality. We have seen from the unquestionable testimony of the
Roman Saint, Bishop, and Martyr, Irenseus, that the real Jesus of Nazareth was not put to death.
But yet, according to the Romish gospel histories, he was actually put to death by crucifixion.
In the gospel of the Romish Jesus, we merely have the account that he was a part of three days in
the grave. But tradition informs us that he was buried on the evening of Friday ; he continued
in the tomb till midnight of Saturday was past, and rose the moment the morning of Sunday com-
menced. Thus he occupied the tomb in three successive days, though for only one day of 24
hours, and a part of a day of 24 hours' duration. This professed entombment is meant figura-
tively to represent a certain time that was considered necessary to be intercalated, in the neros, us
I shall now describe. 2
There is an error in the Soli-lunar cycle of the Neros of one day and a part of a day in every
1 In the case of Oriais in Egypt, and of St Denys or Bacchus in Gaul, whose limbs were scattered in forty placet,
and sought forty days, I apprehend the last three were the days of the processions only— the days on which the parti,
of generation were sought.
* Whether or not the Author be light in his conclusion, the following anecdote, in Farrar's Life of Howard, the
Philanthropist, may serve to illustrate the oriental custom of reckoning days: "Mr. Houaid found, on arming at
Constantinople, in 1786, that the chief topic of the day was a summary and sanguinary punishment which had recently
been inflicted on the grand chamberlain The particulars were these —the grand vizier sent one day foi the grand
chamberlain, who had the charge of supplying the city with bread. Yielding immediate obedience to the summons,
this officer arrived at the palace of the minister in great state; and being mtioduced into his pieserice, was asked vvh\
the bread was so bad He answered that the harvest had been but a \ery indifferent one. * Why,' continued the viziei ,
apparently satisfied with this excuse, * is the weight so short?' * That/ teplied the chamberlain, * might have happened
by accident to two or three, amongst such an immense number of loaves as are required for the supply of so huge u
city / but he assured his highness that greater care should be taken for the future. Without further observation the
\izier ordeied him to quit his presence; but no sooner was he obeyed, than he commanded an executioner to follow
the unhappy man and strike off his head in the street, where his body was publicly exposed for a day and a half, with
three light loaves beside it to denote his crime
" When the circumstance was i elated to Mr. Howard, he was told that the chamberlain's body had lain three days in
the street, on which he expressed his surprise that it had not bred a contagion, and then he Jeamt that m point of fact
it had not been left so long, as they were not entire days. It was evening when the head \vas struck off, and this wa^
-eckoned one day, it remained the whole of the second, and was removed early on the succeeding morning, which was,
accounted the third day. The eastern mode of computation is the same now that it was in the time of the ctucifixiou
and burial of Jesus Christ, when three days were similarly reckoned." Pp. 195—197. Editor.
OBSERVATIONS. 143
cycle, as we have seen 5 and this space of time it is necessary to intercalate every 600 years, in
order to correct the error. This required intercalation is figuratively described by the burial of all
these Gods, and of Jesus Christ. Every 600 years they were put to death, lemained buried a dav
and part of a day, after which they rose again to new life — a new six hundred years commenced —
a new Phoenix arose from its ashes.
We have before seen that the year of the sun was 600 years; that the Phoenix1 lived 600
years ; that the Phen or, in Irish, Phcnniche, meant 600 years. As much as the cycle got wrong,
it was necessary to intercalate. For this period the God was buried. In the six thousand years
he would be mystically or feignedly buried ten times. And I have very little doubt, that when
the old Phoenix burnt itself, a certain time elapsed before the young one arose from its ashes. But
it was not to be expected that the priests would tell us this, if, indeed, they knew it. I have
somewhere read, I believe in the work of Mr. Faber5 a work which has no indexes, though paid for
by subscription, that, in the ceiemonies of the initiation into the mysteries of Buddha, a man was
supposed to be killed ; and, after lying on the ground some time, was simulated to be raised from the
dead. This is very like the practice in the Romish church of imitating, in their ceremonies, all
the recorded acts of the life of Jesus Chribt. This is in accordance with the resurrection described
in Georgius and in my plates, figure 14.
The same ceremony is stated by the Abb£ Bazin* to have taken place in the mysteries of
Eleusis. He says, " These mysteries were, according to Tertullian> somewhat tarnished by the
" ceremony of regeneration. It was necessary for the initiated to appear to revive 5 it was the
" symbol of the new kind of life he intended to lead. A crown was presented to him, which he
" trod under foot ; the Hierophantes then drew forth the sacred knife, and the initiated, whom he
" pretended to strike, also pretended to fall dead at his feet : after which he appeared to rise
" again, as it were, from the dead, A remnant of this ancient ceremony still exists among the
66 Freemasons." In the Gospels we have the following statements respecting the burial of Jesus :
Matthew (xxvii. 57, 62) says, " When the even was come : — now the next day that followed the
the day of preparation," &c. Mark (xv. 42), " Now when the even was come, because it was the
preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath." Luke (xxiii. 53, 54), " And he [Joseph of
Arimathea] took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in
stone, wherein never man was laid before. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath
drew on." John (xix. 42), " There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation
day:9
The Gospels all agree that Jesus rose on the Sunday morning, and pointedly and unnecessarily,
unless there was a particular meaning intended to be conveyed, say, "very early before day-light."
But the tradition is, that he rose the moment after midnight of the second day. At Rome, in
some of the churches, the ceremonies begin at this time, and in Syria, in commemoration of the
resurrection of Adonis $ and now, in the same place and at the same time, the ceremonies of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ begin to be celebrated.
If the calculation of the mythos be commenced on the moment of the conjunction of the sun
and moon, and the neros last 600 years, 28h l' 42" , there must be, to make it come right, an
intercalation in every neros or 600 years, of 28h' lm' 42s- Then this will make the life of the sun
end precisely in such a manner, in such a part of a day, as will be -28h- lm' 418< before a third day
begins, making it go one second into the third day to complete the 28h* lm* 42**. Thus the reason
1 The Gieek woid </>aii/ew or Qatm to shine came from the name of the sun <£wcr6QO, or ^qw:r6
2 Translation by Wood Gandell, p. 220.
144 OBSEKVATIOrsS.
why he is in the grave, as it ib called, three dayb, is apparent. The Millenium cycle was supposed
to have begun at such an hour and minute of the day on which the sun first entered Taurus at the
vernal equinox, as would make the eighth cycle or neros end at an hour which may be found by
close examination of the history. It is said that Jebus vuis buried before the sabbath began; that
would be before six on Friday evening. Then if he were the shortest time possible in the grave,
to be consistent with the history, he would be there from six to twelve, or the last six hours of
Fiiday, twenty-four hours of Saturday, and say one second of Sunday, and he would rise very early,
ah the text says, on Sunday morning. This makes one day, six hours, in the grave. Now what
ib the time necessary to be intercalated to correct the error to a second of time ? It is one day,
four hours, one minute, forty-two seconds. Then the authors of the mythos were in error the
difference between ld 4h- lm* 4-Zs and ld- 6h Om-0s . This is lh 58m- 18s-, which, on 7421 luna-
tionb, the number there are in the cycle, makes an error in the moon's period of somewhat less
than one secomd. This, I think, is bringing the matter pretty nearly to a point.
If the reader look back to Volume I p 175, he will find the Brahma period stated to begin 3164
jeais before Chribt. We will try to find how this arose. By calculating backwards and allowing
a day and part of a day for the error every six hundred years, the calculators made, in the eight
neroses, wtw*, but not ten days: thus 9x72=648 +2 160-2808 +360-3 168— 4=3164. This seems
to me to be a real arithmetical proof of the truth of my explanation of the three days, or, mon*
correctly, the day and part of a day in the giave.
From Taurus to Aries 2160
Aries to Pisces 2160
Pisces to Jesus Christ 360 l
9x72 , 648
3164
2160
5324
5328
4
5324
The history of the sun, I repeat, is the history of Jesus Christ, The sun is born on the 25th of
December, the birth-day of Jesus Clmst. The first and the greatest of the labours of Jefau^
Chu^t is his victory over the serpent, the evil principle, or the devil. In his first labour Hercules*
jsti angled the serpent, as did Cristna, Bacchus, &c. This is the sun triumphing over the power*
of hell and darkness ; and, as he increases, he prevaiU, till he is crucified in the heavens, or is
decussated in the form of a cross, (according to Justin Martyr, 2) vihen he pasbes the equator at
the vernal equinox. But before he rises he is dead for one day and about four hours. This is
nearly the time necessary to be intercalated every six hundred years, to make the calculation come
ri^ht , at the beginning of the third day he rises again to life and immortality. The twelve labourb
of Hercules are his labours in passing through the signs of the zodiac, which are so similar to the
1 Mr. Bentley states, p 52, that the sun entered Pisces at the vernal equinox, 746 years B C, He is here in a great
mi or, 01 Csesai and Sosigenes weie in a great error in fixing the solstice to the 25th of December; and our globe**
aie equally in error now in fixing the equinox to the first or thirtieth of Aquarius. This seems a mibtakc of Mr Bent-
ley's \\hieh I cannot comprehend The sun certainly only entered the sign Pisces five degrees, or 5x7^— 360 ycais
B C. I will not assert the fact, but I have very little doubt that the intentional fraud Mi, Bentley bpeakb of in the
Brahmin astionomeis, all aiose from the mistake of the 576 years, and the neglect of the inteicaLiry days, of the neces-
sity for which the modern Brahmins weie ignorant
* See Vol I. p. 789.
OBSERVATIONS. 145
history of Jesus Chribt, as to induce the reverend, pious, and orthodox Parkhurst to declare them
types of what the real Saviour was to do and suffer. These celestial images are what induced the
learned Alphonso the Great to declare, that the whole history of Jesus Christ might be read in the
stars.
No doubt this explanation of the three days' descent into hell will be separated from the other
explanations of the mythos, and thus, taking it alone, it will be represented as extremely ridiculous.
But, I ask, What were the entombment and resurrection of Bacchus, Atys, Apollo of Miletus, of
Adonis, of Cristna, of Buddha, &c,, &c. > Were these real deaths and resurrections, or astronomi-
cal mythoses ?
In this book I think I have proved, that every rite, ceremony, and doctrine, which is found in
the Christian religion, was a close copy of that of the Gentiles. Mr. Mosheim1 is obliged to admit
this, nearly to the extent here stated, and he endeavours to disguise and palliate it by pretending
' that they were taken into the Christian religion. But as I have proved that every rite, ceremony,
and doctrine, of the Romish church is taken from the Heathens, and existed before the time of
Jesus Christ, I beg leave to ask, Where is the remainder which is not Pagan, and which is to con-
stitute the Christianity of the present day? The Christianity of Jesus Christ, from his own mouth,
I shall exhibit in a future book, in its native and beautiful simplicity, unalloyed with Pagan,
Paulite, Romish, Lutheran, or Calvinistic nonsense.
That which I have written is intended for the use of philosophers, as I have said in my Preface.
How should the generality of mankind, occupied in the affairs of life, be expected to understand
such a book ? No, no ; let them attend to their secular concerns, count their beads, and say their
prayers, resting content with the religion of their ancestors, and be assured that God is equally
present with the pious Hindoo in the temple, the Jew in the synagogue, the Mohammedan in the
mosque, and the Christian in the church. Peter said, very wisely, Of a truth I perceive that God
is no respecter of persons ; but in evert/ nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him.*
I must fairly admit, that I cannot read what I have written without an indescribable melancholy.
In what a state of delusion have four-fifths of mankind been kept, and still are kept, by the dis-
honesty of the remainder 5 and, in the teeth of my humble and feeble efforts, I fear always will be
kept! But, at all events, I have done my duty ; I have endeavoured, with no little labour, to
draw aside the veil, I know what I deserve ; I fear, I know what I shall receive, from my self*
sufficient and ignorant countrymen. But yet, a new sera is rising. There still is hope in the
bottom of the box. But one word more I must say of the Eternal City, before I close this article 5
it may serve for a warning.
It is a striking circumstance that the Pagans themselves boasted of the greatness of Rome, not
only as the capital of the empire, but as the head of their religion, of which it was the centre ; on
account of which it was called by Atheneus Oufai/OTroXiv, or the Holy City, Ruma Mamma, the
residence of the Gods.3 It was called the Goddess of the earth and of the nations, at the very
moment that the axe was laid to its root, and that, by the treason of Constautine, its altars were
about to be overthrown, its religion destroyed, and it was to be degraded to the rank of a provin-
1 Comm. Cent, ii. Sect. xxxvL n.
* Acts x. 34, 35.— For most of the articles in the above parallel between the rites of the ancient and modern Romans,
I am indebted to a small treatise lent me by my friend Ed. Upham, Esq., entitled, "Les Confonnitez des Ceremonies
Modernes avec les Anciennes. Jmprime' PAn 1667*
3 Lucan, lib. i., Dedm Sedes, Mart lib. xii, Epigrorum. 8 ; Claud, de Laud, Stillic.
vox* n. u
lift OBSERVATIONS,
dat town. Thiw, at this time, when loaded with corruption, its religion rotten to the core, and
evidently at its labt gabp, still, as in former times, it calls itself eternal; its pompous, empty,
tatvdrj cardinals, bending beneath ermine, fat, and ignorance, waddle about their grass-grow1-
streets and crumbling ruins, which would long since have yielded to the pest which surround*
then', had not the remnant of the fine arts of Greece procured to it a temporary respite. But,
proud Rome, thy race is nearly run— thy day is nearly over, One century more, and, like haughty
Babylon, tbe curious stranger, probably with fear and trembling, will ramble round thy ruins, and
say. This w«s the eternal city ! Here was Rome !
Sure ^ the shatt that slayeth in the night
The pestilence glides slowly, robed in light,
All-glorious Italy, o'er thy fair champaign
The smiling fiend extends hei silent reign,
And desolation follows, Lo1 she stands
'to the proud capital, with noiseless hantK
Showering the secret rum on the dome
Oi thy *reat temple, everlasting Rome '
HERBERT'S jPw Mk Pittw, p, I1!!,
( 147
BOOK IIL
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF LETTERS. — MOON'S PERIOD. — NAMES OF LETTERS. — BOUCHER.— DR. WAIT ON SANSCRIT.—
CYCLE OF FOURTEEN. — THOTH. — OM. HOMER. — TARGUMS.— DR. YOUNG. SOL.— JOSEPH, PROTEUS.
STALLS. — SOLOMON. SINDI. PETER. — CRYPTOGRAPHY, INDIAN. — VOWEL POINTS. — ACROSTIC. ANA-
GRAM. METATHESIS. THE NUMBER NINE, — ARABIC LETTERS.— THE GOD XANGTL — eE*fc /**«, ev.— SIGNETS.
—SIGMA TAU.— -ADAM. GENESIS,
1. THE following book will chiefly consist of a development of the mode in which the most impor-
tant of all the various branches of human science, the art of writing, was discovered and brought
to perfection. But before my reader begins to examine it, I must beg him to reperuse and recon-
sider the Preliminary Observations in Volume I., which have relation to the origin of letters and
figures. Those Observations, chiefly taken from my work on the CELTIC DRUIDS, I inserted there,
for the purpose of assisting in this investigation.
When I go back to the most remote periods of antiquity into which it is possible to penetrate,
I find clear and positive evidence of several important facts. First, no animal food was eaten — no
animals were sacrificed. l Secondly, it is recorded, and it seems probable, that the Gods had no
names, and that no icons were used \ 2 and almost all ancient nations had a tradition, that they
once possessed sacred writings in a long-lost language. The possessors of these writings and this
old language, I think, must have been the people who erected the Pyramids, the gigantic stone
circles, and the other Cyclopsean buildings, which are found of such peculiar character and size all
over the world. The language of these nations, or, in fact, the lost language which they used, we
will now try to discover — assuming, that it was the first written language of man.
In the Preliminary Observations, Section 31 — 47> I have shewn how I suppose the Latin?
Etruscan, or Phoenician, system of describing numbers by right lines arose — each number described
by a collection of these lines, having had the name of a tree given to it, I find my opinion on this
subject strongly supported by a passage of Vallancey's, which, when I wrote the Preliminary Ob-
servations, I had oveilooked or not observed.3 He says, "The Romans used literary characters
" as numerals, and in alphabetic order as the Chaldaeans did, so late as Julius Caesar's time. In
" the sixth century a Julian kalendar was dug itp at Rome, on which the days of the month were
66 numbered by letters in alphabetic order, beginning with A at the first day of January, B to the
t€ second, and so on to H, or the eighth day, which was their Nundina, from which day they
« began again with ABCDEFGH, instead of I. II. IIL IV. V. VI. VII. VIII., which were the
" Phoenician and Palmyraean vulgar numerals/'4 If we could be certain that Palmyra was built
by Solomon or the Jews, we should have a very good reason, indeed I may say a certainty, for
1 Sacrifice— Sacrum Festum— sacrificium.
* This was because the God of Wisdom, or the wise God, was worshiped.
3 Coll. Hib. Vol. V. p. 186. 4 Vide Scaliger de Emend. Temp. p. 160,
u2
148 LETTERS.
believing that the right-lined numbers of the Phoenicians were also those of the Jews, As it is,
we have a very high probability that they were so.
Before we begin the following speculation we will suppose that man had advanced so far as to
have given names to trees, and to have called a certain tree Elm, another tree Birch, and others
by appropriate appellations, and had called his first number, described by the mark I, Ailm, and
his second number, desciibed by the mark II, Beth or Birch, &c. In this case I would denote an
idea of number, viz. one, and a sound, viz, Ailm ; and II would denote an idea of number, viz. two,
and a sound, viz. Beth ; and each would denote a tree generally, and the two would also denote
two peculiar trees, as distinguished from others, viz. the Elm and Birch : so each arithmetical
figure or little collection of lines would have five significations. It would denote a number, a tree
generally, a Birch tree, and a sound; and, after the discovery of alphabetic writing, a letter.
Thus there would be a language like what the Chinese language and the Runes of Scandinavia are
at this day. That is, there would be a symbol for every sound or name of a thing, for the thing
itself, and for a number, and the number would, by association of ideas, be closely connected with
leaves and trees. Thus this language of symbols would have five meanings, exactly as the
language of the sacred books of the Tamuls is said to have had $ and a question naturally arises,
whether this language of numeral symbols may not have been the very language referred to by the
Tamulese, as that in which their sacred books were written. This induces me to make a few ob-
servations on the Tamul language before I proceed further. At first, the distance of the place in
which we find the Italian and the Phoenician right-lined letters or figures, from the country of the
Tamuls, South India, certainly seems very great, but it becomes less, when it it is recollected that
we have exhibited individuals miscalled Christians, but who, in fact, were the followers of Tammuz,
in South India, using the Pushto language of Syria, and the absolute identity of the worship of the
fishes in both countries.
Dr. Babington says, " I cannot touch on the Tamil characters without remarking, that their ex-
" treme simplicity seems one among many circumstances which indicate that the language is of
" high antiquity. The Sanscrit of the South of India is written in characters (the Grant'ha) de-
" rived from the Tamil." The learned Doctor then proceeds to give reasons for the Tamil having
an independent origin, at least equal in antiquity to the Sanscrit itself. * The name of the Tamul
language is Pushto, and the root of this word Push, which I shall examine hereafter, means a
Jloiver, and this system of letters was sixteen in number, like that of the ancient Jews. The lan-
guage of the Chinese, which we have just observed is a language of symbols, was called the lan-
guage of flowers**
I consider my system to receive no small support from the following passage of the Universal
Ancient History: * "That the ancient language of the Chinese was pretty nearly related to the
" Hebrew, and the other tongues which the learned consider as dialects of it, notwithstanding
" what has been advanced to the contrary, we own ourselves inclined to believe. Ludovicus Tho-
" massinus, Philippus Massonius, Olaus Rudbeckius, and Augustus Pfeifferus, seem to have
" proved this almost to a demonstration." M. Balbf, in a late learned work, has turned the argu-
ments of the above-named persons and our Edinburgh historians into ridicule; but my experience
teaches me, that ridicule is never had recourse to, till argument fails. Near Gaya, which is the
place where Saca or Sacya finished his doctrine and became Buddha, is a tree called by the Chinese
Poo te choo or the Tree of Knowledge. 4 The Chinese in a particular manner call their written
* Trans. Asiat. Soc. Vol. II. Part I. p. 264, 8 See Vol. I. pp. 482, 738, 750, 753, 775, 779.
3 Vol, XX. p. 331. 4 Neuraan, Catechism Shaman, p. six,
BOOK III. SECTION 2. 149
language the flowery language, which I suppose is the language of flowers or leaves.1 I appre-
hend this comes from their numeral symbols having had the names of plants.2 This tree of
knowledge seems to have been the Pushto, or Push, or Pote-sato. Every thing tends to raise a
probability, that the Chinese and the Western languages of symbols were the same. I will now
proceed with my theory, but I shall return to the Pushto and Chinese presently.
After man had used the right lines for some time, he would discover the art of making a figure
to use instead of the collection of lines, and we will suppose him to have made or invented twenty-
eight figures for the twenty-eight numbers which I have supposed him to have discovered; how
this was done I will presently explain. We have an example of this in the tree alphabet, Table I.
Nos. 8 to 10, and in the Runic alphabet, in THE CELTIC DRUIDS, pp. 4, 5.
We have thus, I think, very easily found how it is probable that the first symbolical system oi
writing was invented ; but we have not yet found out the grand secret— the art of syllabic or al-
phabetic writing— though we have symbols for ideas and sounds.3
On this art Mr. Astle4 says, "Those authors whose learning and ingenuity entitle them to the
" highest respect, and whose writings have furnibhed many useful hints towards the discovery of
" alphabetic characters, have not filled up the GREAT CHASM between picture writing and letters,
" which, though the most difficult was the most necessary thing for them to have done, before
" they could attempt to account for the formation of an alphabet!" Mr. Astle does not pretend
to have filled up the chasm. I think I shall be able to do it.
2, For the reasons given in the Preliminary Observations, (pp. 2, 3,) I cannot have any doubt
that one of the first recorded ideas would be the moon'-s period, for which the twenty-eight num-
bers would be used, and perhaps one of the first things recorded would be the moon herself, by
means of these numbers. In this case the record would be described by XXVIII, and by its
component parts called lod (i. e. Yew) pronounced twice, and Eadha (i. e. Aspin) once, and
Ailm (i. e. Elm) three times. The use of these symbols for the twenty-eight numbers
would soon lead to the formation of arbitrary signs for other things 5 and, in short, to the present
Chinese writing — a mark or symbol for every word : and on this plan the Chinese have proceeded,
exerting all their ingenuity, as we know, for thousands of years, having never left their first
habit, or changed their first style of writing 3 the reason for which, I think, we shall discover
hereafter.
The Western nations took a different course, and fell into the habit of making their letters for
sounds instead of ideas of things, and thus in some way, which we will try to find out, the syllabic
system arose. We have supposed that they first described the moon by marks which would re-
present twenty-eight units, that they would write it thus XXVIII $ and, I suppose, that they
would perform the operation in the following manner : if a man had to desire his neighbour to as-
sist him to record the moon, he would say, make on the stone tablet or in the sand the mark lod
(yew), and he would make X. The speaker would then say, make or mark another lod, and again
1 Neuman, Catechism Shaman, p. 63.
2 It seems to me that a language of symbols is totally unfit to communicate proper names, for which reason in trans-
lating from the Chinese, if the written account is to be followed, that is, the idea of the thing to be given, our names
ought to be rendered as we render them. If the sounds used by the Chinese in speaking, for our names, are to be de-
scribed, then a writer may copy the sounds as well as he is able. I suspect it is from a wish to do both, that Mr. Neu-
man has rendered proper names in so odd a manner. England is called Ywg Iteih le ; the Russians are called
Go lo sse.
3 In the symbols for sounds began the first idea of music, an art considered by the ancients, and particularly by
Pythagoras, as of much greater importance than it is with us j the reason for which I shall try to explain by and by.
4 Origin and Progress of Writing, p* 11.
150
MOON'S PEEIOD.
he would mark X; now make an Eadha, and he would make V; now make an Ailm; and this
order would be repeated twice, and he would make three lines III, and it would form our XXVIIL
But neither the speaker nor the writer would pronounce this word, however much he might wish
it, except by repeating the names of the trees— any more than we can pronounce 10, 10, 5, 3, as a
word. Here, however, we have clearly a written, but an unspoken language of symbols.
We may now ask, How man, in the experiment which we have supposed him to try on the moon,
would write the XXVIII ? We know from history that it would not be horizontally, but perpen-
dicularly, and must have been in one of the following ways ;
or
or
X
X
or
X
X
Suppose we write the word in our letters, but in the name of Celtic Irish trees, and in the abo\£
Etruscan or Italian numbers and manner, to see how it will look. We shall have them thus, be-
ginning to read on the left side of the page :
lod I-H od
X
X
>
[od I-H od
X
X
0
Eadha ts adha
or ..
Ailm > ilm
HH
or
I-H
•^
fD
Ailm J> ilm
w
W
|
Ailm > ilin
~
f-H
n*
Ailm
M
><!
-
Ailm
«
X
„
Uearn
d
<<
-»
lod
or
1-1 or
i— <
x
lod
^
-
*
- a
P- or
Here, writing from the top downwards, and turning the paper to read — accordingly as we turn it,
to right or left, we read in the Sanscrit and Greek manner, or the Hebrew and Arabic manner.
Here we have the exact mode of writing, and of turning the paper, which is yet used in the Syrian,
that is, the Pushto or Estrangelo language, as I learn from Dr. Hagar — writing it from the top to
the bottom, but turning the paper and reading from right to left. This is confirmed by Vallancey,
who shews, that it was the habit of the Tartarian nations, and quotes Forster, who says, tfc The
** characters and mode of writing of the Calmucks, Moguls, and Mandschurians, are taken from
*fi the Uigurian, and these again from the Syrian. These Syrians also still continue, to this day, to
"£ write exactly as the Calmucks do, viz, they begin at the top, and draw a line down to the bottom,
*c with which line the letters are in contact from the top down to the bottom of it \ and so they
*' continue to write one line after the other, at each line going farther on to the right, and carrying
f* their writing from the top to the bottom. But in reading, the Moguls and Calmucks, in like man-
" ner as the Syrians, turn the leaf sideways and read from the right to the left*91 These Calmucs
and Moguls, who have characters taken from the Syrian, that is, I suppose, the Pushto, are gene-
rally called Tartars. It may be remembered, that we formerly found the Fossiones Tartarum in
Italy, the country in which we found the first right-lined letter figures of Syria or Phoenicia.
Mr. Forster says, " This perpendicular way of writing was not unknown to the Greeks, who
Su called it, as Bayer observes, %<M[*><M 4>°P°^ and was usual among the Syrians too, who, accord-
r" ing to Abraham Echelensis, wrote in this way/3 2 The Greeks, as I have formerly observed^
also called this Tapocon.
Footer's Hist, of Voyages and Discoveries, £c., note, p. 106; Vail. Coll. Hib. Vol. VI. pp. 1?3, 174.
Br, Hagar on the Alphabet of Corea, Or. Col, Volt III. j VaUaacey, Coll. Hib. Vol VI. p. 173,
BOOK III. SECTION 2. 151
" Tapocon Graci soliti sunt appellate genus scribendi deorsum versus, ut nunc detrorsum scri-
« bimus." l
And it appears from a letter of Gen. Vallancey's to General Pownall, that the ancient Iribh also
wrote in the perpendicular line, 2 And to these nations I have to add the Ethiopians. et Ethiopi-
" bus olim hunc modum (meaning the writing from top to bottom) familiarem quoque fuisse,
" docet Alexander ab Alexandra."3
I suppose that the experiment above mentioned, as made by man on the Moon's cycle, would,
after some time, lead him to attend to the sounds of the trees' names, and that he would necessa-
rily fall on the sounds of the first letters of the words, and be induced to try if he could call tbib
word XXVIII by them : this he would do with ease, on the very first attempt, by pronouncing (a
XXVIII XXVIII
very remarkable word) IIEA, IIEAAA, or in the other way, IIVAA, which was the word
cbaunted by the Bacchantes of the Greeks, in their nocturnal orgies — Evohe, Evohe, and, in short,
Eva, addressed to" the Moon ; and also the word Yeve or Yeye, chaunted by the Hindoos in their
ceremonies.4 I have seldom been more surprised than I was when I discovered this process to
bring out the Moon's name ; but yet, when I consider the matter, it appears only natural if my
theory be well founded. This word is also nothing more than the name of leue, described in.
Genesis by the word in the feminine gender C3>rri?N aleim. In this extraordinary word we have
united, first the monograms of God / and //, by which he is called in the Chaldee targurn, and
secondly EVA or VA mn hue, the two names of the male and female principles of nature. We may
now see another reason why the letter or symbol I and the tenth letter, the jod, came to be con-
sidered the symbol of the Self-existent Being, and how the irregular verb rvn eie or n»r? hie of the
Hebrew arose, and came to mean self-existence,
In the first two letters of this word » ii we have the name given in the Annals of Ulster, and in
gepulcral monuments now existing, to the island of loua or Columba, in Scotland, the name of
which island, I shall hereafter shew, meant the generative power. It is also remarkable that this
word » ii is always used in the Targum for the name of the Creator instead of IEUE. But I car.
find the grammatical explanation of it in no Lexicon or Grammar, and I believe it cannot be shewn
that it belongs to any verb or noun.
I believe that this word, from its connexion with letters, which I have just pointed out, and with
the soli*lunar cycle of 28, came to be the name of the Creator of the male generative power, and the
vau to be the name of the female, I believe that the jod > i has the same meaning in Hebrew and
English 5 and that the word w which we use for the third person singular of the present tense of
the verb personal he is, must be the first person singular of the present tense of the Hebrew help*
ing verb w is, and means I am, or I fe, being the same as I exist. It probably must be the same
in the first, second, and third persons singular. It also means, Parkimrst says, substance, and, as
we might expect, from the word which describes the Self-existent Being, PROFOUND WISDOM ;
and this I consider very deserving of consideration.
I could not have wished for any thing more proper for my purpose, than that this word should,
in this very extraordinary manner, from the names of trees and the powers of their numbers com-
bined, thus unexpectedly give out the name of the moon as used by the Bacchantes — the name
1 Festus de Verbor. Signifiv , Hagar, Babyl. Bricks, p. 51. * Pownall on Ant. p, 219.
3 Genial. Dier. Lib. ii. Cap. xxx. Synopsis Universes Philologise, Godofredo Henselio, p. 104. Drummond says,
that the Ethiopian language was Chaldaic. Punic Inscription, III, 24, 403 75 ; and Vallancey has undertaken to prove
the ancient Irish to be a colony from Phoenicia.
* See Vol. I. pp. 325, 452.
152 NAMES OF LETTERS.
described by numerals having the number of the cycle peculiarly appropriate to it, which I shall
presently shew that till the other heathen Gods also had ; and also the name of Jehovah IEUE the
Chaldaean God, and PROFOCJNTD WISDOM. It amounts to a proof of the truth of the system much
more complete than could have been reasonably expected. It forms a very strong presumption
that I have actually fallen upon the very process which must have taken place. But this will be
much strenghtened presently.
3. To return to the symbols. After man discovered the art of recording numbers by right lines,
in the way already described, to the amount of twenty-eight, he would endeavour to find out some
means of recording additional numbers, at the same time that he would try to simplify the process ;
and I suppose that after making one line thus, F, for one9 he would, instead of making two lines for
the two, make one straight lined symbol thus J , and again call it by the name of Beth, the name
of a tree (Birch); that for three III, he would make a symbol thus "I, and call it Gort (the Ivy) ;
that for four IIII, he would make a symbol thus A, and call it Duir (the Oak): and that thus he
would proceed with the remainder of the twenty- eight numbers, making twenty-eight single right-
lined and angular forms for his twenty-eight numbers* And I suppose that during the perform-
ance of this operation, which might take many years, (for in nations which actually made some
progress in this process it never vt as completed,) he found out the means of recording additional
numbers by discovering the decimal notation or arithmetic — the contrivance of beginning anew,
when he got to ten, till he reached twmty; then beginning anew with tens as he had done with
ones or units ; thus I was ten, K was twenty, A was thirty, and so on. Thus he contrived a sym-
bol for each figure. But if we consider this process carefully, we shall find, that each symbol was
not only the representative of a thing or idea, namely, in the case of the second number, or
chequers, of two stones, or of two lines on the bark of a tree or in the sand, but it was in each
case also the representative of a sound, and of that sound which was the name of a tree, Beth, the
Birch ; and the representative of a number, two; and, in several instances, of a high and power-
ful number ; as for example, 5 for 200,
This is all strengthened by \hefacts, that the first Celtic Irish and Hebrew letters were called
after the names of trees, and that the first Greek letters were in lines, ypa/A/ta, to use their word
for them, and actually still continued to be called TreraXa, or leaves, after the knowledge of the
reason for it was lost; and they will justify the inference that the theory which I have suggested
above is well founded, because the theory shews a probable reason for the name of TrsraXa having
been adopted. If the letters of the Greeks were not originally leaves like the Hebrew1 and the
Irish or Celtic, why should they have given them the name of leaves $ What connexion on any
other scheme is there between wsraXa, leaves, and letters ?
We have found that the Chaldees had their letters in lines or gramma also ; and, as the Hebrew
letters bad the names of trees, and as the Greeks had their letters from Syria, nothing is more
likely than that they should have originally called them after trees as the Hebrews did. But Pez-
ron has shewn that the Greek came from the Celtic, that is, from the Hebrew. But if the Hebrew
names of the letters had not, in later times, in the Greek language, the meaning of trees, this
makes nothing against the system, because we may readily suppose in the long time that the
Greeks may have existed before the arrival of the Cadrnaean colony, they may have lost them.
Vallancey has said, that the Chaldaic was only used as numerals, not as letters \ that the Chaldee
1 It must not be forgotten, that I assume I have proved that the Celtic and the Hebrew were the same, See Vol I
pp. 461, 518, 709.
BOOK III. SECTION 4. ] 53
language is the same as the Estrangelo, which is the Pushto. This is also stated by several other
learned men.
The word for letter in Latin is tttera, which has been said to be derived from the Arabic <Juki
letif, which signifies an occult or mysterious meaning. This Arabic letif is evidently our leaf, and
shews that it is highly probable, as I have supposed, that the Arabic letters had the same names
as the Hebrew, In fact Hebrew and Arabic are the same. Here in the old Latin or Etruscan
litera, as in the Greek, the Hebrew, and the Celtic, we have the leaves.
Dr. Lingard, in his history, says, " I would attribute to these ancient priests the Rhyn or mys-
ce terious language, so often mentioned by the bards (of Wales). To every tree and shrub, to their
" leaves, flowers, and branches, they seem to have affixed a fanciful and symbolical meaning ; and
tff these allegorical substitutes for the real names of beings and their properties must have formed,
<e in their numerous combinations, a species of jargon perfectly unintelligible TO ANY BUT THE
" ADEPTS.**1 But why did not Dr. Lingard try to find the meaning of this jargon > 2 The Rh^n
here alluded to, is the Rhythm or the Arithmos of the Greeks; it was the Arithmetical system of
letters formed by straight lines, having the powers of numbers and the names of leaves, and carried,
I doubt not, to a much greater length than the first twenty-eight of the Arabians, It was the lan-
guage of trees, of leaves, of flowers. It was in truth, probably, the first original Pushto, or lan-
guage of flowers, corrupted, which I shall discuss by and by.
A learned writer, in the Universal History,3 maintains, that the Syrian or Assyrian characters,
(or Pushto,) which he calls the Estrangelo or Mendsean, in the time of Darius Hystaspes, were
used by the old Persians, Assyrians, Syrians, Arabians, and Mendaeans or Chaldaeans, and that
from this letter all the otheis in the East were derived; and Mr. Bayer has maintained, that, from
the Estrangelo, the Brahmin characters were derived. Now we know that the Estrangelo, called
also Pushto, was the letter of the Tamulese, and was in all probability older than the Sanscrit.
Mr. Bayer also comes to the conclusion,4 that the square Chaldaic character was the primigenial
letter of the East. As he comes to this conclusion without knowing any thing of the fact— that
it was the vernacular letter and tongue of a tribe, namely, the Christians or Crestans of Malabar,
his opinion seems to deserve the greater respect. I apprehend that the square Chaklee letter was
the primeval letter of the East, because it was, as Vallancey says, a letter of numeral symbols, of
the first written but unspoken languages. Bayer maintains that the Pehlevi, which he calls Par-
thic, is derived from the Assyrian alphabet, called Estrangelo. s
I beg my reader to observe, that if the unspoken language of numeral symbols were written from
the top to the bottom, the consequence would be, that when those symbols were used for syllabic
letters, they would necessarily come, in different countries, to be used in different directions —
sometimes from right to left, and sometimes from left to right ; so that the same word would come
to be pronounced in ways totally different: for instance, sor might be ros, and ros might be sor.
4. After I had finished what the reader has seen on the origin of language, I met with a passage
in Boucher's Glossary, appended to Webster's Dictionary,6 which supports every thing which I
have said respecting the ancient Hebrew language in these islands, in a remarkable manner. In-
deed, whenever any learned man undertakes to shew the similarity of any two old languages, he
i Vol. I. p. 18
* Ogum craobli, "the branch writing," is surely decisive as to the correctness of the opinion of those who advocate
the Tree system. Cue of the thiee Seronyddiou (Saronides*1) of Britain was Gwyddion, the Diviner by trees, Cam-
brian Mag.
» Vol,I.p.81,ft. 4 Ib.p, 82.
* See Act. Erudit. Jul 1733 ; Hagar, BabjI. Bricks, p. 14. c P. -\xxv.
VOL. II. X
154 BOUCHER.
is always right. The principle applies as well to language as to geometry— things similar to the
same are similar to one another. " If any language can be pointed out to which the Welsh is
" materially indebted, it is the Hebrew; l for, there are several radical words that are the same in
" both languages ; there is also a similarity of sound in certain letters of both alphabets $ and
" they are likewise alike in some peculiarities of construction, especially in the change incident to
" several letters in the beginning of words. The analogy between the Welsh and the Hebrew
" proves, that since (as far as any negative can be proved) the former was not the original lan-
" guage, it must be indebted, in a very considerable degree, for its origin, to the latter ; for ao
" cording to Rowland,2 there are more sounds in the Welsh that agree with the Hebrew, than there
" are in all other languages put together. And it is extremely remarkable and peculiar, that the
" Welsh has no resemblance to, nor coherence in, sound and signification (its own immediate
" cognate dialects excepted) with any other language in the world, now known, except the
" Hebrew." I must now beg my reader to refer to my CELTIC DRI/IDS, Chapter II. p. 63, where
he will find full and complete proof 'that the Welsh is really Hebrew. He will there find not a few
words sufficient to support the assertion, according to the doctrine of Dr. Young, but actually a
whole sentence from the Psalms of David, where the Welsh and the Hebrew words, when written
in the same letters, are identical. I must now beg my reader to turn to the Plates in Volume I,5
Figure 26, the coin on which has a Hebrew inscription. To which I have to add, that some time
ago, in one of the books of antiquities, but which I have forgotten, I met with a desciiption of a
Hebrew inscription on a large stone in some part of Wales. And now I wish to ask any one how
a coin with the head of Jesus Christ and a legend, in a language obsolete in the time of Jesus Christ ',
should arrive in Wales and get buried in an old Druidical monument ? I contend, that the pro-
bability is, that it is a memorial older than Jesus Christ, of the son of that individual of the three
Marys, to whom, in his infancy, the line referred, which Mr. Davies suppressed, as stated by me
in Volume I. p. 593, the Son of the Virgo Paritura of Gaul. Whether this medal represents
the son of the Virgo Paritura, found in the Western countries long before the Christian aera,
or Jesus Christ, cannot be reduced to a demon btration. Many things of this kind, I believe, have
been found in different times and places, but always immediately discarded, as merely superstitious
works of devotees of the middle ages. Thus truth is disguised, \vithout any ill intention, by well
meaning persons. In like manner Sir I. Fioyer throws out the acrostic from the Sibyls, because
he says it is a Christian forgery. In like manner Mr. Davies,3 in a translation of a Welsh bard,
leaves out the last two lines, because he says the bard had introduced a Christian idea represent-
ing the son of Mary as the pledge of his happiness. This Mary was probably one of the three
Marys of Gaul, and her son, the Lamb of the Carnutes, the Saviour,4 or one of the three Marys
found upon an altar of Hercules at Doncaster. In this feeling of authors, influencing them for
thousands of years, I doubt not may be found one of the chief causes of the disappearance of the
Judaean mythos.
In addition to the above, and as a strong support of what I have elsewhere said respecting the
Saxon language, I cite the following passage, which is in p. xxxviii. of Boucher : " For, by the
1 " See Llhuyd's comparative etymology in the Archalogia Britannica, where he shews that the Celtic, itself from
" the East, was the common parent of all the languages of Europe, See Pezron, Di\ Davies's preface ; Holloway's
" Originals, and lastly, Rowland's Comparative Table of Languages^ in which he hath paralleled three hundred Hebrew
'* words, with an equal number taken from the ancient languages of Europe, corresponding therewith, both in sound
"and signification, more than one half of which three hundied words, aie shewn to have a sui prising affinity and
" resemblance with the, Welsh."
8 " See his Mona Antiqna, 3cc,, p. 271." 3 Celt. Myth. p. 253. 4 See supra, p. 108.
BOOK III. SECTION 4. 155
" operation of one of the simplest figures in rhetoric, metathesis or transposition, £. e. merely a
te different arrangement of the same, or nearly the same letters, many Celtic words, even now,
" might easily be made Saxon : thus draen readily becomes dorn and thorn, and daear no less
" naturally erd or earth." This arises merely from the different ways in which the line has been
turned when the writing was changed to the horizontal from the perpendicular. The Celtic reading
from left to right, instead of from right to left, of course places these words in contrary ways,
as found here. But if I have shewn (in my Celtic Druids)^ as most assuredly I have, that the
Celtic is Hebrew, this proves the Saxon to be Hebrew. For the Saxon being Celtic, and the Celtic
Hebrew, the Saxon must be Hebrew.1 Things like to the same must be like to one another.
Besides I beg the doctrine of Dr. Young on probabilities may be applied to this. It is extremely
curious to observe how learned men labour to exclude themselves from the benefit of the real
learning of their predecessors. This arises from various causes 5 one of which is, the great anti-
pathy which almost all philosophers have to the oldest books in the world — the books of Genesis ;
and this dislike arises from the manner in which these books are made subservient to their selfish
purposes by both Jewish and Christian priests. For fear, therefore, of aiding them, the philoso-
pher can never be brought to examine those books like any others $ but the moment they arc
named, off he goes j he will neither examine them, nor listen to any one who does. Therefore if
any person attempts an impartial examination, he is instantly poh-pohed down $ the philosopher
is instantly aided both by Jews and Christians, for they have as much objection to a fair examina-
tion as the philosopher. This extends to the language in which the books are written, to the
Hebrew, because the priests endeavour to bolster up their interests and their fooleries by main-
taining that the Hebrew language is the oldest, and therefore the sacred language. No man has
been more successful in his antiquarian researches than Vallancey; but, I really believe, merely
because he has traced the old Gods, &c., of the Irish to the Phoenician or Hebrew language, the
philosophers have been foolish enough to join the priests in running him down. The latter soon
discovered that Vallancey was likely to discover too much for them $ and almost all the English
joined in decrying the literature of the Irish, because they envied them the honour of it, and be-
cause they Jbated the nation they oppressed and plundered. Of all this Mr. Adrian Balbi, in his
Ethnography, furnishes a fair example. For, in treating of the Mexican language, notwithstand-
ing the close affinity between the Hebrew and the Mexican, which, in defiance of monks and
priests, has been so clearly proved, he never notices it. He acts in nearly the same manner with
regard to the Irish alphabets, and says, "De grands historiens et des philologues profonds ont deja
ff appr6ci6 convenablement ces reveries historiques, et ont de"montr6 que ces alphabets, qu'on
*f pretendait £tre anterieurs a 1' alphabet Grec, ont e*t& fabrique"s par de pieux moines dans le
*e moyen age/' If M. Balbi had looked into Vallancey* s works, at the Irish alphabets, the Bobeloth
and the Bethluisnion, of which I have given copies in Vol. I. p. 9, and had used his understanding,
he would in one moment have seen, that they both possess the digamma or vau, which the Greeks
never used after the time of Aristotle, and, therefore, that they could not have been copied from
their alphabet by the monks of the middle ages \ and secondly, that they both possess correctly
and simply the Cadmsean letters ; and therefore it is totally incredible, that the monks should
1 The Celtic is PROVED to be Hebrew in the Celtic Druids, (p. 63,) and in the Monthly Magazine, Vol. II. p. 609,
and Vol. III. p. 10. The Celtic and the Hebrew are proved to be the same, in the Universal History, Vol. XVIII. p.
363, Vol. V. p, 411. See also Diss on Hist, of Ireland, Dublin, p. 48, 1763. I also beg my reader to turn to Vol I.
p. 109, and supra, Chap. I. p. 4, and to consider uell what the well-known excellent Hebrew and Saxon scholar, Dr,
Geddes, has said, in his Critical Remarks, respecting the identity of the Hebrew and Saxon.
x*2
156 DR, WAIT ON SANSCRIT.
have copied them only, leaving out the additional or new letters. The two facts taken together
prove, that the old Irish or Celtic letters were not taken from the Greek, but were the same as the
six teen-letter alphabets of the Hebrew, the Tamul, and the Pushto or Peshito. Speaking of Gebe-
lin, Balbi says, " Parmi les fautes grossieres dont il fourmille, et que ses partisans ont re'pandueb
" dans un grand nombre d'ouvrages, on y lit, entr* autres, que le Persaii, i'Armenien, le Malais
et 1'figyptien sout des dialects de l'H£breu." But very certain I am, that, notwithstanding the
dogmatical assertion of the learned Balbi, this must not be classed among the mistakes of the
learned Gebelin. The Count Gebelin is right ; because all the languages of the world contained in
syllabic writing, unless the Sanscrit be excepted, may be traced to one, and the Synagogue or
Samaritan Hebrew is nearer to that one, merely from the accidental circumstance of its conceal-
ment in the Syrian temple. Wherever it and the Chaldaean priests went, there the remains of it
will be found. It was the language of Ayoudia. It was the language of Pandea, in India, of Cey-
lon, Scotland, Ireland, and of Syria. Whenever a learned man attempts to shew the affinity of
any two of these languages, he always succeeds ; in the same manner he always succeeds in shew-
ing their affinity to the Hebrew. No doubt it may be shewn more clearly in the languages of some
nations than in those of others, — for instance, in Arabic and Celtic, than in Indian. This I attri-
bute in a great measure to the fine Sanscrit having by degrees superseded it. Only in the broken
dialects of India can it be expected to be found, and upon all these the Sanscrit has exercised au
overwhelming influence. The observation of the Count Gebelin, respecting the MALAYS* speaking-
Hebrew, noticed just now, forcibly recalls to my recollection what was said by my learned friend
Salome, respecting the Hebrew- speaking Malays, found by him in the dep6t of the English India
house.1
All that I have said respecting the Hebrew I think may be said to be ummllingly admitted by
the learned Balbi in the following words : "Dans ces derni£res, I'H&breu surtout offre, pendant
" une longue suite de siecles, une £tonnante fixite, soit dans les formes, soit dans les mots : fixite
" qui est d'autant plus remarkable que, durant ce long intervalle, les Juifs subirent les plus grands
" changements politiques." 2 This astonishing fxite of language, I have shewn, had its reason or
c^nse in the accidental preservation in the temple, combined with the dogma which forbade all
change. Had we any other sacred book of any one of the mysterious temples, we should probably
have found it the same. Though the manuscripts might be torn and dispersed in the time of
Jeiome, yet still they were paits of the old book. Various opinions have been held respecting the
primitive race and language, which have been often confounded, though by no means necessarily
so ; but unquestionably the great majority of learned writers have come to the opinion, that the
Hebrew, as a written language, is the oldest, and this without any regard to religious con-
siderations.
I mentioned in the note of p. 1, that Dr. Wait had observed " there were an IMMENSE NUMBER
" of Chaldee roots to be found in the Sanscrit" language. I surely need not point out to the
reader of this work what an amazing support the disinterested evidence of this learned man gives
to my theory. It almost amounts to a proof that the ancient Tamul, the Estrangelo, the Pushto,
must have been the Hebrew-Chaldee-Ethiopian-Syriac on which the Sanscrit was built. That is,
it actually proves the truth of the hypothesis advocated by me in the above-mentioned note, that
the Sanscrit was, in a great measure, founded on the Hebrew — a proof which I was not able to
give in consequence of my ignorance of the Sanscrit, but which Dr. Wait has supplied. In the
Sanscrit language there is scarcely a single word connected with mythology, which will admit of a
See Vol. I. pp. 432, 442, 596, 665, 751 , * P. 58.
BOOK III. SECTION 5. jgj'
rational etymological explanation. All this class of words was formed long before the Sanscrit
language, and they were only the old words written in the Sanscrit letter : from this it naturally
follows, that they are inexplicable by the artificial rules of Sanscrit grammar— by the general ap-
plication of which rules to every case, Sanscrit scholars run into the greatest absurdities. With
the Brahmins it has become a point of faith to hold up their fine Sanscrit as absolutely pwfect,
and, in this, they are followed by some of its modern professors. This is with the Brahmins ex-
actly the same as it is with the Jews and their points; but wherever faith begins, the use of rea-
son ends. It is always their object to refer any word to a verbal root 3 but to accomplish this,
they are obliged to neglect the signification, and often, also, to run into the most absurd and arbi-
trary assumptions with regard to the form of the words. A few examples will best illustrate thib.
The word swan, the Greek tfuo>v a dog, they derive from the root Si, (pronounced like the English
word See,) to sleep — third person present sete, he sleeps — and they assign as a reason for the deri-
vation, that a dog sleeps, or is a lazy animal. I think it will be allowed that nothing can be more
forced than this. As a second example, Aswa (Latin equus, a horse) they derive from the root As,
to eat, because a horse eats.
The Rajah Ranimohun Roy informs me, that the word Age in Sanscrit means to go, and quick-
ness or velocity; and thence, as fire is quick, it came to take the name of Agni or Yajni, Every-
thing in nature, the Rajah says, was supposed to have an angel presiding over it, according to the
system of the Jews, which was also the system of the Hindoos — the angel being called a deus.
Thus the Angel or Deus of Fire or of Agni came to be the God or Deus Agni. This is exactly
the Jewish regimen. Now here, I think, we have an example of the Sanscrit scholars' losing a
word by attention to their artificial grammatical rules, by which they conceive themselves strictly
bound in accounting for the origin of any word, and by which they become involved in inextricable
difficulties. It is almost evident to me, that the assumption of claims to absolute originality in the
Sanscrit is a modern assumption. I apprehend the word age, quick, is the Latin Ago, which means
to move, and the Greek ays which has a similar meaning. It is certainly not impossible that the
word ayvo$ hostia pura, or agnus laml, being a burnt-offering, may have taken the name from the
fre, and thus the Agni may have come to mean Lamb* Innumerable are the absurdities into which
the Brahmins are obliged to run, in order to compel the language to bend to their artificial gram-
matical rules, and by these processes they can and do coin words which are found in their modern
Lexicons, (and their Lexicons are all comparatively modern,) but in no other books j but to ac-
count for this, the roots are said to be obsolete,
As there are many words thus formed which probably never had in reality any existence, BO
there are many left out of the Lexicons which are in the books, but which are left out perhaps,
because they cannot make them bend to their rules.
The following are obsolete Sanscrit words, occurring in the learned Dr. Rosen's Rig-Ved0e Spe-
cimen, and not to be found in any Sanscrit Dictionary:
prafhdna glorious, celebrated.
vohla host, army.
«/w*am quickly, speedily.
chit and.
dama bouse, dwelling.
158 DE, WAIT ON SANSCRIT*
dam£ at home (domi).
gnbh to seize, to take hold of.
pritsu in war, in battle.
bhargas light, lustre.
charsham man, human being.
doohd by night, during the time of night,
vastar by day-time.
vtspati a lord of agricultures, i. e. a prince, a king.
mihlu wealth, riches.
ild food, nourishment.
sadha with, together with.
The Irish word Ogham and the Acham of the Sanscrit I have shewn to be the same. When we
consider this we shall not be much surprised to find the language of Scotland called Sanscrit, or
Gael-doct, that is, learned Gael — but this we shall find by and by. I suspect the Acham of the
Sanscrit is nothing but QDrr hkm} the Jewish word for wisdom. Door is in Sanscrit Dwara or
Dura,1 in Saxon dora. It is found nearly in all languages, and is no doubt an original word, lu
Greek it is Sugct. In Chaldee it is jnn tro? The Sanscrit word to walk is valgz this is evidently
English, that is, Saxon or Hebrew.
It has been observed by my friend, Professor Haughton, that all barbarous languages form their
words of great length, and the observation is very correct, as we are in the habit of representing
them by letters. But I think this only applies to unlettered languages. I much suspect that the
fact of the languages having come to be described by syllables and letters, has had the effect of
making all of them assume the difference of character which we see between them and the Poly-
nesian and Mexican languages. The arts of writing and reading are so difficult to be learned, that
efforts would naturally be made at first to render them as simple as possible \ and it is on this ac-
count that we find all the first alphabets consist of right lines. It is perfectly clear that after most
of the words of a language had been put into writing either by letters or symbols, whether confined
to a high class or not, that language would naturally become more fixed than it was previously. Ben.
Wasigh, of whom I shall speak presently, has let us into the secret of the monstrous complication in
their forms, by having shewn us that all these forms were adopted for the sake of secrecy. The fact
which he gives us is supported by tradition, by analogy, and by the general character of secrecy which
was adopted all over the world. But though this made the forms of the letters complicated, it had no
tendency to make the spoken languages so. The same cause wh ich would make the spoken language
of a barbarous people rich or complicated, would make the written language of its first inventors poor ;
for in writing, I think, as little labour as possible would be expended upon it, as it must have been
Tod, Vol. I.
* See Webster on word Door.
BOOK III. SECTION 5. ]59
an extremely difficult thing to accomplish, Every kind of contrivance would, therefore, be adopted
for the sake of brevity, which would also tend to secure its secresy. l It is perfectly clear that all
the principal written alphabets of the world are the same in principle — have all been originally
derived from one, and, it is probable, that that one was the numeral alphabet of the Arabians, Iu
obedience to the eternal law, it would, of course, have a tendency to change — for nothing stands
still. It would be pronounced by various nations in various ways, and we, by following their pro-
nunciation, endeavour, as far as in us lies, to augment the mischief arising from the law of change;
we labour to increase the change instead of endeavouring to decrease it as far as we can. For in-
stance, suppose we take the letter y o9 which, by its power of notation, seventy, is clearly fixed to
the omicron of the Greeks, by their o, and by no other letter ought it to be described, and certainly
not, as some persons would do, by the tig. This is clearly what we ought to do if we mean to de-
note the same idea as the Greeks and Hebrews by the same symbol. The sound has little to do
with it 5 the idea is what we ought chiefly to attend to in these investigations.
We constantly find that travellers meet with persons of all classes speaking what they call the
Arabic language. Now, if I be right in my idea respecting the identity of the Arabic and Hebrew
languages, how is it likely, if not written, that they should be distinguished in India, This ac-
counts for the Christians speaking Syrian in Malabar. The case with the Hebrew and Arabic lan-
guages is exactly the same as that of the six dialects of the British Celtic — the French, Manx,
Irish, Welsh, Cornish, and Scotch, notoriously all the same, but now become nearly unintelligible
to one another, although the common meaning can be perceived by any person who understands
them all. But no person in the more civilized parts is able to understand a person of any of the
other countries without great difficulty. This is, in the case of the Hebrew and Arabic, much
aggravated by the artificial modern letters, in which they are written. It is perfectly clear that
the Sanscrit is like all other languages in this, that it bad its infancy, and was brought to perfec-
tion by degrees. The progressive state which the several Vedas shew, puts this out of all doubt.
The most learned Brahmins now can scarcely read and understand the first Veda, The circum-
stances attending the Yajna sacrifice, and that the meaning of it is lost, are decisive proofs, either
that a part of the language is lost, or that this sacrifice, which, when it is offered, is now public,
was formerly secret.2
I must here beg my reader not to forget that the old Syriac or Estrangelo or Chaldee is called,
though not the letter of the leaf or tree, yet very near it, the letter of the Jtower— Pushto — and
which must be considered really the same: in this it is similar to the Welsh Celtic, lately noticed
from Dr. Lingard. But I shall discuss this farther by and by,
The first Greek letters being in lines or ypoL^a, and called leaves or TrsraXa, and their notation
being yet in right lines, and the Etruscan or Italian being also in right lines 5 and the Irish and
1 In my observations on Hieroglyphics I have overlooked an important notice of them by Ammianus Marcellinus,
lib xvii, 4, who says, that a certain Hermapion had written a book containing translations of hieroglyphics into Greek.
From this the learned Heeren comes to the conclusion, that he must have understood the hieroglyphic writing and
language. Now it so happens, that from this I come to a conclusion quite the reverse, namely, that like M. Champol-
lion, he only pretended to understand them, but really knew nothing about them. If he had understood them, they
would all have been instantly translated. Had they been used as the Edinburgh Review says, for the purposes of com.
mon life, Hermapion would have had no occasion to make a book of translations. He was evidently a pretender, to
whom no attention at the time was paid, and he would not he worth a moment's notice if he did not add to the proofs
already given by me, that they were lost at the time of the conquest of Egypt by the Greeks, and that therefore the
discovery of the names of Ptolemies and Caesars proves M. Champollion's discoveries to be all delusions, I think it is
evident that Hermapion attempted to explain or translate them as M. Champollion has done.
* See Vol. I. pp. 260, 389, 640, 667, 707, 718.— For Sanscrit see Drummond's Orig, Vol. IV.
J60
CYCLE OF FOURTEEN.
the Hebrew having been in right lineSj and having both the names of trees, are not theories but
facts, and will justify the conclusion that my theory is in substance correct. All this is strength-
ened by the numerous allegories in the old Arabic, Syriac, Welsh, and other languages relating to
the tree of knowledge and of letters— Arbor in inedio Paradisi, &c., and we shall find presently,
that the first system of letters of the Chinese consisted of right lines. I think it must have been this
numerical system which they had. Each of the numbers would constitute, correctly, one of their
symbolic letters. We may be pretty certain it was the same as that which the people of Sumatra
used, and we know from Jambulns that it consisted of 28 figures. !
I believe that no person who has studied the subject ever doubted that there has been one ori-
ginal, universal language. Mr. Bryant sajs, "There <ue in e\ery climate some shattered frag-
" ments of original history, some traces of a primitive and universal language ; and these may be
" observed in the names of Deities, terms of worship, titles of honour, which prevail among na-
cr tions widely separated, and who for ages had no connexion."2 On this subject a very learned
and ingenious treatise, by Mr. Sharon Turner, may be consulted, in the first volume of the Trans*
actions of the Royal Society of Literature. I have no doubt that in very early times a sacred or
secret written language of numeral symbols existed, which was in use over the whole world, and
that that language, as was a natural consequence, consisted of a definite number of words and
ideas, each word and idea represented by a number. As long as a certain pontifical government
lasted, which I shall shew was the first government, and was the inventor of this symbolic letter,
this tf ould remain. By degrees, the priests of this order, but of distant nations, would add words
to it, till the number became cumbersome, and then the discovery of syllabic writing being made,
the numeral system would by degrees be deserted. This would be the first language both written
and spoken, used in all nations. By degrees in each nation new words would be formed in addi-
tion to the old, and often exchanged for the old 5 so that we might expect what we find, namely,
some of the old first words in every language. From the observation of Cluverius, that he found
a thousand woids of other languages in the Hebrew, and from the circumstance that it is in a less
changed state than any other written language with which we are acquainted, an effect which has
arisen from the accidental concealment of it, in the recesses of the temple of Syria, I am induced
to fix upon it as being the nearest to the original language.
In the twenty-eight angle-shaped forms or arithmetic figures, there was evidently an unspoken
symbolic language, or language of symbols. It is highly probable that after man had got thus far,
he would very soon multiply these symbols by making new ones, as the Chinese have done— a
symbol for each idea— or by making drawings of the objects of nature as the Mexicans have done
with their hieroglyphics.3
6. We have seen how, in the name of the Sun and Moon, we obtained the first word of literal
syllables. We will try another example or two. The Jews and Egyptians had a cycle of fourteen
days.
Suppose man wanted to record the cycle of fourteen, he would write the sign which stood for ten
and the sign which stood for/owr, calling one lod, Jod, or Yew, and the other jDirfr or Oak, and
' Vide Piel Ob*,, in Vol. I. p. 5, Sect. 22. • Vail Coll. Hib. Vol. VI. p 4.
^ * The Mexicans mubt have gone from the old world after the decennary system of notation was invented, but before
it proceeded to symbolic writing. If symbolic or Chinese writing had been invented and known to them, they would
not have fallen back to hieroglyphics Their hieroglyphics are not a secret system, but known to all; in this, differing
from that of the Egyptians I have no doubt that the periods of the planets were among the things hrst lecorded— the
recording signs at fin,t being used as figures of notation, and not being repiesentatives of sound, and therefore the signs
BOOK III. SECTION 6. jgf
r-e would get I A or Xodur, lodi or AI di., the Hebrew n di,1 which came to mean holy or God.
Thus would be surmounted the immense difficulty of finding out the art of making signs for letter
or syllables instead of things. And now every sign would stand for a number, a sound, a thing, a
letter, and a sj liable. The signs for things would be soon lost, the signs for letters and syllables
remaining j and I fix upon this word AI di as likely to be the first written word in the first syllabic
language, as we find it in the oldest languages.2
In the St. Kilda dialect, and also in that of Mexico, Di means Great and Lord. It is also written
Ti. This justifies the explanation of Ti-bct by Georgius. It is the word of numerals Di~14.
From this, as Malcolme says, probably came the name Dey, the King of Algiers.3
When a man had got the collection of three stones or lines, or the sign standing for them, to ue
called Gort, and in like manner the parcel of four to be called Duir, I can easily conceive ho\v he
would come to describe the word Dog by the signs for the 3 and the 4, called Duir and Gort. I
think if he endeavoured to describe the animal by blgns as he had done the cycles, he could do it
HO other way than by using the signs of the numbers, whose names had their beginnings with the
sounds which he wanted to describe. The number of units in a cycle led a man naturally to de-
scribe it by the symbols, but nothing of this kind could lead an inquirer to fix upon any figures to
describe the word dog; but in the place of this the sounds of the first letters would instantly pre-
sent themselves $ and thus he would describe it by the symbols for 4 and 3, because these num-
bers had names which began with D and G. He would find from this that, by taking the symbols
of each number4 gfad putting them together, he would produce a certain useful method of record-
ing any thing he wished. Thus he disco veied the art of giving sounds as letters, or of converting
into letters the symbols of the numbers. This, I think, is the mode by which the most useful dis-
covery in the world may have been made. All this is confiiined by ancient medals.
In the way which I have described, a symbolic language would be formed, each symbol standing
for a number, and also for an idea. Men \tould understand one another perfectly, though the lan-
guage could not be spoken. Every symbol for an idea would be a monogram, This is nothing
but Chinese writing — the powers of notation of the respective signs having been lost when tie
Arabic system of notation was discovered \ for the monograms would continue useful as writing,
but be useless as numbers. The memory would be greatly assisted, at first, by the powers of no-
tation, in the learning of such a language : and it is evident that, however varied the formb of the
symbols might become, as long only as the ideas of the powers of notation remained unchanged,
and however varied and unintelligible to each other the languages of men might become, yet the
system of writing would be understood by all.
Supposing the written language of symbolic -figures to have been in use for several generations,
the bpoken language must have been gradually changing \ and then, if we suppose the syllabic lan-
guage to ha\e been brought into use by priests writing into it the words before preberved by them
which afterward became vowels would sometimes be used. Thus the Sun would be called Sul or Suli, as the case niieht
be— as 336 or 366 was meant to be represented
1 I must apprize my reader that he will not find the Hebrew word n rh in Parkhur&t construed to mean God, but I
feel no hesitation in giving it this meaning, since he allows that the Celtic De, Di, Dia, the Latin Deus, and the Greek
Ata, and the Goddess A^ Ceres, were deiived from it. See Greek and Hebrew Lex. in voce,
* Lord Kingbborough shews that God is called Dios by the South Ameiicans, Antiq. of Mexico, Vol. VI. p. 63,
3 From the T \d came all the mounts called by us /ife, by the Hebrews jn» ido : U JO, d-4, 0«70«84.
4 If this be thought complicated, we shall presently find man to have recourse even yet to a practice much more
complicated, described by Sir S. Raffles.
VOL. II.
162 CYCLE OF FOURTEEN.
in unspoken symbols, we may easily conceive how differently the words would be spelt in differ-
ent countries. The only surprise to me is, that any similar words should be found. Sure I am,
that many more instances of identity of words in different languages have been found than could be
expected.
We have not yet found why BD, as observed in Vol. I. p. 155, came in almost all nations to
mean Creator. Buddha is, I have no doubt, the first God, whose written name we possess,
Among other names we find him called Bad. This I think may perhaps have been his first name,
and it may be AB or BA, meaning f other 9 joined to the cyclic word di, making Holy Father. The
Ba is the numeral emblem of Buddha, because the two letters represent the number three, the
Trimurti, which was incarnate in father Buddha, or in the holy father. But here in Bad, we have
the word for Wisdom, Logos, Dh iue Love, to mean evil. This was for the same reason that
hostis9 a host, and a peace-offering, meant enemy \ and as the city of On or the Sun, or the gene-
rative principle, was called the City of Destruction, all these mistakes arose from confounding the
creating and destroying powers. But the word BD may be derived from another source, which I
will now explain. We have formerly found PD, as well as BD, to mean giver of forms. The
Jews had a cycle of 14,1 which they multiplied by 6, and thus made a cycle of 84, which must
have been in this case, not BD, but PD; P~80, 0—4—843 Pad or PD, the name of Adonis, and
of the river Don, the Po, and the Ganges, evidently one of the names of Buddha — Pod-en2 who
was supposed to live 84 years. Though formerly puzzled to know why BD, or PD, should mean
rreafor or former, we may here, perhaps, find the reason.3
Rapin4 states, that the ancient Britons used a cycle of 84 years. This, in a very remarkable
manner, connects the Eastern and Western world, and is on this account of the greatest import-
ance. I shall return to this cycle in a future page.
We have seen that the first division of time or first cycle would be into a period of 28, the clays
of the moon's age, called cycle or circle from its constant renewal. The second would be into
fourteen ID 10+4z=14 or XIV, and the 28 might be two fourteens — ID ID — which became after-
ward the Syrian AD AD, and the nr7> ihd treated of in Vol. I. p. 392. Man'b first conception of
God, after he acquired the idea of his existence, would be, of a being one and holy, and this one or
monad he would describe by the figure which he used to describe the tree after which he called his
first number or unit or digit5 or one. Having, I suppose, found or made the D or Di stand for
the name of the first cycle of fourteen, or in fact of the sun, of God, it almost necessarily followed,
that the initial of the name of the monad, when man got to the use of letters, should be joined (to
form the name of the God) to the general term for the idea : thus A was joined to the DI or D, and he
got Ad. This was the Ad of North India, Eastern Syria, and also of Western Syria — Ad ad cor-
rupted to HadacL The ID was Di, the Hebrew n di; and from this we have the DI and D pre-
fixed or post-fixed to words as Di-va, Maha Deva, the great Goddess Vau, or the mother Goddess
Vau or Va. But ad might be a=l, d=4n5, the root of the cycle of 60. The Vau we have before
found called Venus or the Mother:6 thus we have dirva or Di-eva, Deva. This sacred cycle of
1 Ba&nage, p. 436 * See Vol. I. p. 153.
3 But the BD may also come ft cm B=*2, D=*4=6, which is the Vau, or, as we say, E\a, the mother of all living.
Eva is only Vau, and the emphatic article the — making the Fatt. Thus the VdU was the female generative principle.
Il was the root fiom which sprung all the various cycles depending on the number 432, It cannot be objected to the
meaning given to the Evn, that the fiist letter is the Heth and not the He, because the Heth is not one of the old six-
teen, but a new letter, and we have formerly seen that these two letters were commonly substituted foi one another.
* Vol.II. Ed. Eng. B. III. p, 67.
5 The very word digit for the numbers under 10, shews the origin of the figures, 6 Vol. I. 221 .
BOOK III. SECTION 6. ]g£
fourteen 5b no theory. Plutarch tells us it was the Egyptian sacred cycle of Isis and Obiris— -derived.
he &ayb, fioin the moon — 14 solar revolutions of the moon 5 therefore^ properly a Luni- solar cycle.
It was, I suppose, as above described by id 10+4, and thus it became the name of God and holy,
being the first natural cycle. The reduction into its still lower cycle of seven, by dividing it, doeb
not make a natural cycle like the fourteen light and fourteen dark days of the Moon. Thus came
Da or Di to mean holy or God.
From n diy holy^ came do to give, and donum and divus, in fact the giver— in Hebrew jn tn.
In the word A joined to the Dzz5, I think we have the first syllable of the word Ad-am, and in M,
or Om the second. Or the second might be ma^ great. It was the 5, the odd number and the
male, in opposition to the Kin eua, the van, the 6, the even number, the female. Our word od it.
ad=5, our word even is the vau—G, Eve with the Tamul termination. It is a remarkable fact, and
of the first importance in this inquiry, that the names of the trees in the old Irish alphabet should
all begin with the letters which give the sounds required to make the words that constitute the
names of the letters. For instance^ the Ivy, called Gorl, to stand for the sound of G j the Oak.
called Duir, to stand for the sound of D. This was because the number 4 was called Duir, mean-
Ing Oak. Thus the number was first called JDuir after the Oak, then the letter was called Duir
after the tree and the number. This is not the case in any language except in the ancient Celtic
Irish, and just enough in the Hebrew, which was Celtic, to shew that the same rule obtained in
the formation of its alphabet. A necessary consequence followed from this, that the letters, whose
designations arose in the manner I have suggested, should have the sounds of the first letters which
we now find in those names of trees, and no other : for instance, that the Duir should give the
sound of D, and not of O or of any other. This chiefly contributed, perhaps entirely caused, the
discovery of alphabetic writing ; and it seems to me to be a very striking proof of the truth of my
theory. But if what I have said in the Preliminary Observations (Volume I. pp, 13 — 15) be care-
fully considered jointly with what I have said here, I think no doubt will remain that the Hebrew,
and consequently also the ancient Arabic, (which are, in fact, the same language,) had originally
the same names of trees as the Irish. It is impossible to believe so many trees to have had the
names of letters and this quality to have arisen from accident.1
The two Greek terms for letters, viz. ^rsraXa from TrgraXov a leaf, and ypoL^ara from ypapfty
/i line, confirm what I have said, that letters were originally leaves and right lines. A book is called
:n Trish barac or bare, which also means a leaf, which Vallancey says2 came from the bark of a
tree.3
5 The Morning Herald for April 16th or 17th, 1827, states, that the Bible Society in Ireland was giving Hebrew
Bibles to the native Irish, because they found that they understood them in the Hebiew quicker than in the English,
What I have said icspecting the Hebiew and Irish names of trees seems to furnish a satisfactory reason for this, if the
Herald be concct. And my theoiy is very much strengthened by what I have shewn from the pieface to Boucher^
Glossary, and from other authorities, that the Welsh, which was originally the same as the Irish, had a very close rela-
fion to the Hebrew, but to no other language , in fact, it was really Hebrew. It may be observed, that they were the
humble peasantry of Ireland to whom the Hebrew was intelligible,— people lemoved fiom towns and improvement,
and consequently change. I lately learned in Scotland, that the people of some of the most remote parts undeistand
the people of the Western coast of Ireland, but the more civilized and cultivated parts of each population do not now
understand one another. I was also told that some Miners came out of Cornwall to Mr. Pennant's slate quarries, and
they understood, though with some difficulty, the Welsh who were working there.
* Coll. Hib.VoLV.p. 134.
"» We have found Bacchus called Liber, and Boc or Book,- we have found him called Kiakiak in Siamj (Vol. I. pp.
639, 643;) and we have found him called by most of the Cycles, as Nss-650. The Hebrews called writing pn pi
ik.dk. We have found him, in Ceylon or Siam, called Dak-po. This is Dg-Padus or Po. I believe the Kiakiak is
164
THOTH.
7. When we reflect upon the general tradition that Teut, Thoth, or Hermes, was the inventor
of letters,1 and that in the very old histories they aie always connected with the idea of something
magical, the following observation of the Abb£ Guerin de Rocher will be thought striking: "II
66 est surprenant qne quantite de savants, qui ont fait des recherches sur Thoth on Athoth, n'aient
" pas observ^ que c'est le m&ne mot qui en H6breu (mnN atut sigma, nvrmt anliut litterse) sig-
" nifie signes et lettres, parce que lea lettres sont des signes cles mots. Athiuth, qu'on prononce
" othioth, et qui vient d'athut on othoth, signes, est le mot constamment employ^ dans toutes les
" grammaires H6braiques, pour signifier les lettres. Ce mot nous indique done que bien des
ts choses attributes a Thoth on Athoth, chez les Egyptiens, peuvent avoir rapport aux signes des
" Hfebreux : et le mot de signe, chez les H6breux, signifie quelquefois des signes naturels, quel-
" quefois des signes miraculeux, et enfin des signes artificiels, tels que les lettres. Je montrerai
" en effet par-la Torigine d'un Thoth aussit6t apr£s le deluge ; d'un autre clans Moise, qui a bien
" droit a ce nom, et par les signes miraculeux qu'il opera, et par les signes ou lettres sacr&es qu'il
" &crivit, C'est que je d&velopperai et prouverai dans la suite des rfcgnes." 2
I have formeily observed that I thought that letters were secret and considered magical This
opinion is confirmed by this observation of Guerin de Rocher, that the word used for letters or
symbols of notation is also used for the idea of miracle, and is used in Genesis i. 14, as signs to
divide the times. When a person considers the astonishing effect or power of letters and figures
of notation, he will not be surprised that they should have given name to any miraculous effect.
Nor is it surprising that the signs TT, which described, in the first symbolic letters, the soli-lunar
cycle, should come to mean signs or letters generally, letters being considered the conveyors of
the knowledge of Wisdom or TT, or OM.
We have found (supra pp.8, 163) Bacchus called Liber, a book, and also the bark of the tree whereon
letters were written. Now the mm atitf spoken of above by the Abb6, is evidently Tat or the
name of Buddha. But TT is here a letter, and Tiut, or the plural, letters : this is Thoth, which
is clearly nothing but the Hebrew plural of Tut. Vallancey 3 says, "Literarum vero characters
" in amuialium, ARBORUMQUR figuris invenit THOTH." 4 Again he says, "NE& tta, in Chaldee,
" means Vates and Haruspex; this is Tuatha in Irish 3" and he gives an Irish verse thus trans-
lated :
Vatcs (Tuatha) Hiberoise vaticinabantui
Adventuium (tempus) pacis novum.5
Here, as usual, we have the prophecy of a new age. I beg my reader to refer to p. 23, supra, and
to consider what is there said of the Thoth, Tat, and Baqchus, among the Mexicans.
Our word Book is evidently a diminutive of the word Boc, Bac, Bacchus. Bacchus is liber, a
letter, a book; the bark of the tree on which the book was written is liber. ninK atut is nin tut and
the emphatic article : it means Buddha and a letter. By the tree comes salvation, life j the inner
bark or the liber on which the law was written, is the life of the tree, as anatomists say. Thus the
tree is the book of life.
Cicero6 says, that Hermes or the fifth Mercury, whom the Egyptians call Thoth, was the in-
ventor of letters. This is nothing but the renewed incarnation of Hermes or the fifth Buddha in
Egypt
pnpi dkdk, and that it meant a cycle, for which we have not yet found a God-unless it be Dag-on. p^SO, i«4«;M§
Here I suppose a corruption of the p for the i o or A. As this is contrary to my system, I name it as a suspicion but
nothing more,
1 See Vol. I p. 269, a Hist, des Terns Fab. Vol. I. p. 54
* ColL Hib. Vol. VI. p. 174. * El. Sched. - Coll. Hib. Vol. VI. p. 312. 6 Natura Dcor. lib. iii.
BOOK III. SECTION 7- 165
The Oak and Beech gave out oracles at Doclona or Bodona. They were called arbores loquaces
by Julius Valerius, Vol. IIL, and Firdausi mentions speaking trees, which revealed the decrees of
fate to Alexander. These were books ; liber, a book, was a tree — its leaves the leaves of the tree,
A book is a prophet. What do we mean when we say, Consult the prophets, but the books of the
prophets, to see what is foietold?1
Can any thing be more nonsensical than the story of the trees giving out oracles > This affords
a fine example of the absurdity of the moderns in taking the mythological stories of the ancients
to the letter,, instead of giving them credit for what they assuredly possessed — common sense —
and instead of endeavouring to discover the hidden meaning of their senigmas ! The Runes of
Scandinavia, and the ancient Greek letters, were inscribed on triangular pieces or staves of Beech
wood, and the word Buch signifies both a book and a beech tree.2 Thus we see why the Beeches
of Dodona spoke and gave out oracles. The word Rune, in the Anglo-Saxon, means, whispering,
secrecy, magic. The word Runeh is Phoenician, or, more properly, Arabic. In Hebrew nn rne
means a song or to sing.3 We must recollect that Olen was the first who celebrated the praises
of the God at Delphi, with song or poetry,4 I have read somewhere, but where I have forgotten^
that on the pedestal of the God at Delphi was a frog. In Latin Rana means a frog. Here we
sec the same mystic play upon the word. There is a peculiar kind of small green frog which, in
the spring, keeps a up continual singing, very different from the croaking of our frogs ; and what
5s rcmaikable, it lives at that time not in the ditches, but on the tops of the Beech-trees. I have
heard it often in the Netherlands on the banks of the Lower Rhine. Ladies in Paris keep it in a
bottle for a weather glass. In fine weather it conies out to the top, in bad, it is at the bottom.
The staves of wood on which the Greeks wrote are called by Mr. P. Knight5 Tablets 5 but he.
gives the Greek AsAro/. I suppose they had this name from the similarity of the top of the stave
to the Greek A delta. However the tripods might become changed in form in later times, when
the Greeks lost all knowledge of the meaning or origin of their mythology, I have little doubt that,
originally, they were nothing but these three-sided pieces of wood, the writing on which enabled
the prophetess to give out her oracles — and thus the Beech-tree spoke.
From the word *]^K alp joined to the second word Beta, the Alphabet evidently has its name.
Jt means chief, principal, leader. It means a guide, and in this it is easy to see, that it means
knowledge or wisdom. It also means a principal number; this I believe is mystical, and, iu fact,
means, as the first, the fountain of number or numeration. It means both a Lamb and a Beeve,
The Elephant or Ganesa being the God of Wisdom, that beast had his name of EAe4>&£ from this
word. He was the Jirst and wisest of Beasts : from all this, when read in the Greek style from
left to right, D^K pla came to mean the word Pallas or Minerva. In the Egyptian language, the
island of Elephanta was called Philoe or Elephant,
The first word of the Alphabet is often one ; which one is often described by the monogram I.
Here the idea of unity, the To Qv, and self-existence are united. The number ten is also the
same monogram, and means excellence or perfection, and has the same reference to the hundreds
that the 1 has to 10, and constantly describes the To Ov. In Arabic numerals, one and ten were
the same—- 1. They are the same in Roger Bacon's calendar.0 In French we have the le in the
pronoun je, I. All this exactly agrees with what we learn from history — that the first Etruscan
1 Sir W. Ouseley, See Trans. Soc. of Lit. Vol. II. p. 1 1.
* Foreign Quarterly Review, No. XVIII. p. 439, May 1832. 3 Fry's Lexicon.
* See Celtic Druids, Chap, IV. Sect. III. p, 121. * Prol, to Homer,
6 Astle on Letters, p. 189.
THOTH,
uid Scandinavian or Runic letters or numbers were right lines 5 that with the Irish l they were
called after trees; that with the Greeks they were carved on staves — Axibus ligneis — and that
they were formed of right lines and called Tpappara or IlsraXa or leaves, or petalon or leaf (I
believe tree) 5 and that they are found with the mythos of Virgil and the leaves of the Sibyl, and
m the Rythms or Runes of Wales. Now all this leads to the important result, that this system
was not at first intended as a record of language but of ideas. We see in the Arabian and Hebrew
•Jphabets perfect order as concerns numbers, but perfect disorder as concerns letters for names of
letters or of sounds; and we shall find presently all the planetary bodies and astronomical periods
described by numbers, as, upon my system3 they ought to be found ; for I suppose the use of
*minbers, for sounds and the formation of words, was not discovered till long after arithmetic and
astronomy; and that the letters, selected at first without any regard to system in reading, though
afterward altered by the Greeks, in their system, to accommodate it to a certain mythological
superstition, very evident in the 6, 60, 600, ss9 saniach, xi; again, in the 9, 90, 900, Teth, of which
3 shall treat at large presently. In addition to this, I am quite convinced that an attentive con-
sideration of the plates of letters given by Mr. Astle, will satisfy any person, that not only have
the ancient systems once been all the same, but the forms of the letters have been nearly so. It
will also shew the remains of the practice of making the letters from top to bottom, and of thcii
being read sideways ; as, for instance, the S W, the 8, <& ? and many others,
There are several parts of my system which arc facts not tlwories. They are facts, that in that
system of letters which we have, and that probably the oldest, viz. the Irish, the letters are called
after the names of trees ; that there are enow of the old Hebrew yet so called, as to raise a very
high probability that they were all so originally; and that each tree's name begins with a letter
'answering in sound to the sound of the letter. It is a fact, that the moon's name in numbers, as
above, is the name by which it was invokeji in the orgies of Bacchus. It is a fact, that the Greeks
called their letters gramma and petala ; that the letters of all the oldest languages were in right
lines, at angles, (though some of the nations certainly corrupted their alphabet to humour the
mythos,) and that, at first, they mostly wrote from the top to the bottom,
If a person will impartially consider the great number of duplicates in the Arabic, he will at once
aee how unnecessary they must have been for a new-formed language : 4 symbols for d, 4 for Z
>x' S, and 3 for T. All these were necessary for numbers ; but, in an unformed language, must
have been incumbrances ; and thus, when numbers grew into letters, as letters they were dropped.
With the Greeks the vowel v became f, and, in consequence, they were obliged to use for their
figures two 5" s, and place the vau at the end. We have seen the Chaldee or Hebrew written lan-
guage traced to North India, the land of the Sacae, and we have here the same alphabet of sixteen
letters, brought by a tribe, as their history says, from the same place. If this was a forgery, how
came its authors not to copy the Latin, the Greek, the Hebrew, of twenty-two letters, or the Ara-
bic of twenty-eight? It is out of all credibility that the monks or bards of the middle ages should
Lme known of the sixteen letters.2
1 See the Callan Inscription, Celtic Druids, Figure 13, p 5.
2 No one can doubt, I think, that the following are all oae language:
Sanscrit, EC, Dvvati, Traya, Chatur, Pancha, Shat, Sapta, Ashta, No\a, Da&a.
Hindoo, Ek, Duau, Teen, Char, Panch, Chlm, Sat, Ath, No, Dos.
Latin, Unus, Duo, Tres, Quatuor, Quinque, Sex, Septena, Octo, Novem, Decem.
EI$, AM, T>«^ Te^o-o^c, tt&re, *Ef, EITTC&, O/cra,
168 OM. HOMER,
Male generative principle, is always called Our Father, The numeral meaning of the word in a
very striking manner applies to the Trimurti or Trinity. The coincidence visible here I attribute
purely to accident \ and a question may arise, whether the coincidence does not vitiate the theory
of the origin of the numeral language 5 or the origin of the firht infantine language which I have
laid down. Applying to this the doctrine of probability laid down by Dr. Young as applicable to
language, as stated in Volume I. p. 449, and which will be equally applicable to this case, I reply,
IT think it does not vitiate it, but on the contrary, as I will now shew, confirms it. I have stated
*he fact that, in almost all written languages, the word Ma or Am is found to mean Mother — to
mean also Goddess, the female generative power — the Alma Venus — the TX&y olme — the mother of
the Gods. 1 If this M, Am, or Ma, should be found accidentally to dovetail into the Mythos, in the
way the word Ab accidentally fits into it, then, upon Dr. Young's principle, two such accidents will
•certainly vitiate my theory of the origin of the first language. But if, on the contrary, the nume-
ral system do not dovetail into it in any way, but on examination is found to have been forced
from its original simplicity as taught by me, to make it fit to the first language \ then, on Dr.
Young's principle, it amounts to almost a mathematical proof of the truth of both the systems.
Two accidents could not be received, and the chances or probabilities would have been as n
thousand to one that the names of Ba and Ma had been given to suit the mythos, but were not
uuong the first written words of man : but the fact, that the alphabets are forced to make them
ssuil the mythos, places the chances the other way. If we examine the alphabet we find that the
M is not the centre letter of the twenty-eight, but a letter is thrown out in the Hebrew to make it
so, and the letters are reduced from their natural or original number 28 to 27- By this means the
M becomes the central letter, and this was done to make the Ma or Am the navel, the Delphus,
the Omphe, the central letter, — the Mia, the female of Plato's To Ov, The original numeral al-
phabet of the Indian Arabians had 28 letters or forms. The Jews changed the number to 27, to
make the M the centre. The Greeks changed their number to humour a superstition, the same in
principle, and to make the two letters which described their cycle, the cycle of 650., the centre
letters. If we examine this closely, it is exactly the same as the plan of the Jews. The benig-
nant daemon of the cycle was the Son of Man, MNnC50j and thus arose the generic name of the
*pecies— Man, Mannus, the Male, afterward joined to the female, making Am-mon or Om-an ; and,
a hen aspirated, Borno, hominis, horainem. In accommodation to the same mythos, the Greek van
;r digamma or number six, was written f having the sound of the number ^zz60, three lines Oi*
*hrce sr s or %es, and the number #—600. In like manner the M final and 600 of the Hebrews
was constituted of the Samech, the 60 and 600, and the van was, as the Vulgate calls the mother ot
7he race, Eva. The E and U, the 5 and the 6, were the generators of all the cycles. They were
both Lustrums. Thus came Eva or Eve, the mother of the race of J/Ar, the root of Homo, of
Man, the root of Mun-di, holy cycle.2
The manuscripts of the Poems of Homer are now all written without the digamma; but it is u,
fact admitted by all Grecian scholars, that when they were composed (not necessarily written) they
must have had it. No satisfactory reason has been given to account for this extraordinary anom-
aly. I suppose when these poems were composed and sung, the use of letters was not known ;
b«Jt that when they were committed to writing by Pisistratus, the letters had been so long in-
reined as to have given time for the vau to have been excluded (probably for the mystical reason
above-mentioned) from its place in the alphabet, and therefore they were written without it. In
ihe whole storj of their collection and committal to writing by Pisistratus, the knowledge of let-
1 See Vol. I. pp. 110, 1 11, s The sacrifice of « woman is called aumoman, woman, euaman.
BOOK III. SECTION 8. 169
ters Is assumed, as no new invention; therefore, it is probable that they had been in use a suffi-
cient length of time to have given an opportunity to make the alteration of the expulsion of the
vau, It is almost certain that if this sacred poem had been written before the van was rejected, it
would not have been improperly written by leaving that letter out. It is impossible to account
for the omission of the vau except from some mystic reason. The strong probability is, that if
the vau had been in use when the poems were first written, they would have been written with it.
and would never have been written without it. They alone would have kept the letter from being
lost. It seerns to me a strange thing that we should call this letter digamma, when it was evi-
dently nothing but the Hebrew vau. I know scarcely any thing more absurd than calling the
Hebrew vau, which is now only used in the powers of notation, in the Greek language, by the name
of digamma. It is evidently our letter F, come from where it would \ but it would not have looked
learned to have merely called it F. It proves that Bentley and those who gave it that name, with
all their boasted knowledge of the Greek language, actually did not in the least understand the
principle of it. What they call digamma is nothing but the Hebrew vau growing into the sound
of V, hard f. The sounds UV and YU are both the same.
When I reflect upon all the circumstances attending the knowledge of letters, I feel no doubt
that they were not only considered to be magical, but that they constituted a great part of magic
itself. Let us consider, only for a moment, what miracles, as figures of notation in solving pro-
blems in arithmetic, they would enable their possessors to perform. Let us consider alone the
foretelling of eclipses, and let us add to this the knowledge of the periods of some of the comets,
which I think I shall shew in a future book that the early literati did possess. In the passage
quoted in Volume I. p. 675, from the Revelation xiii. 17? 18, the whole of my theory both of wis-
dom and of the system of using numbers for symbols and letters is, in one sentence, clearly
expressed. The knowledge of the number is called wisdom, and the letters are called marks,
that is, monograms or symbols, names, and numbers. Daniel (ix. 2) says, he knew a thing
")DDD onDDn bsprim mspr, from or by the letters in the book.
From 13D spr a letter, or symbol of notation, comes ^D sp or Sup, or Soph, ivisdom. The idea
of wisdom and of letters is never separated.
Vallancey says,1 that storia is ,an Egyptian word, meaning what we should call news. It seems
to have been the Hebrew 12Qttf str, which I think meant a scribe.2 I believe the scribes were a
learned order, a kind of priests, and that they were the only people who understood the art of
writing.
In the very learned and ingenious work of the Marquis De Fostia D'Urban,3 my attention uas
drawn to a passage of Josephus,4 wherein he states, "That they pretend that they have received
" them from the Pheniciaus and from Cadmus: yet is nobody enabled to shew that they have any
" writing preserved from that time, neither in their temples nor in any of their public monuments.
" This appears, because the time when those lived who went to the Trojan War, so many years
*c afterward, is in great doubt, and great inquiry is made whether the Greeks used their letters at
" that time: and the mobt prevailing opinion, and nearest the truth is, that \hz\r present way of
" ming those letters was unknown at that time. However, there is not any writing which the
" Greeks agree to be genuine among them older than Homer's poems," &c., &c. Now I conceive that
' Coll. Hib. Vol. V. p. 209.
* ISO a scribe has several significations in scripture— a secretary, a commissary or muster-master of an army, an
able or skilful man, a doctor of the law, a man of learning1, £c. Calmet in voce.
* Homere et ses Merits, p« li L 4 Whiston's Joseph, ag, Ap. Book i, Sect. 2.
VOL. n. z
1/0 OM. HOMER.
this opens the door most decidedly to my theory. The expression, the most prevailing opinion
was, that the use of writing was not such, in the time of Homer, as that which obtained at that
day, instantly produces the question. Then, what was the kind of writing alluded to ? P. Knight
says,1 "The age of Homer is, however, so much anterior to all monuments of art, or authentic
" records of history, that we cannot even tell whether or not he had the knowledge of any letters,
" there being but one passage in his works where writing is mentioned, and that is so equivocal,
" that it may mean either symbolical or alphabetical writing." The following is the passage to
which Mr. Knight alludes. Parkhurst, under the word nDD spr may be consulted for the authors
xvho have discussed it.
fc fjuv AvKvqvfy, iropfiv 8* oys 2HMATA ATCTPA,
sv vivavi Bprwery, &vfAQ<p6opa "jroXXa*
Ae;fa* 8' yvwyst §5 iteyQep®, o$p* avohoiro,
" To Lycia the devoted youth he sent,
" With Marks, expiessive of his due intent,
" GRAV'D on a tablet, that the prince should die."
It appears to have been a common opinion that some unknown kind of writing had existed, though
it seems to be implied in the words of the text, that it was then unknown. If we suppose that the
works of Homer were first written into the language of numeral symbols, a written but not a
spoken language, many difficulties respecting them will be removed,
When we recollect the Indians admit, that the meaning of their celebrated and most sacred word
OM is actually lost by them, I think we are allowed great latitude in our investigations ; and if I
be right, that the ancient Hebrew or Chaldee, the old sixteen-letter Tamul, Push to, and Afghan
language was the original dialect of India, it is not absurd to *seek this celebrated word here. Then
its ancient sacred representative would be simply the letter CDziGOO, so mystically found in Egypt,
in M-om-ptha, and in Isaiah, in Om-nu-al, Om, our God. We have lately seen that the number /owr-
teen described the first name of God. By the insertion of the final Caph, the letter M forms the four-
teenth letter. I am by no means certain that a mystical connexion has not existed between the M
and the cycle and the Epo>£ divine love and Ma, mother, and Amo, / love, and Ed, the Saviour.
I believe both Venus and Cupid were called Ego>£5 like the Canya of India, and the Cama. Surely
my mysticism is not more mystical than this ! All the sixteen-letter languages ought to be con-
sidered but as dialects of each other, unless the artificial Sanscrit be excepted ; and this assertion
I feel confident that I should clearly prove, had I lexicons from English into Hebrew, Greek, and
Sanscrit, as I have from these languages into English.
The monogram for the Virgin Mary— the Regina Coeli, is the M. Some of the early fathers
called her a fourth God, an adjunct to the Trinity. But the most beautiful emblem is the Mother
suckling the infant. See my Fig, No, 8, Here, in this beautiful icon of Buddha, I have no doubt,
the male and female principles are described.
On reflecting deeply on what I have written in my Celtic Druids, (pp. 197, 198, SOI,) respecting the
word IEUE, and in several places in this work, 2 I am convinced that I have been hastily led into a
mistake by the modern Jews. They hold that the sacred word IEUE is the word which ought never
to be spoken. On reflection I think this was only formerly told to the vulgar Jews to satisfy them,
and to evade their inquiries ; but that the word of the Indians, OM, was the sacred word. It is
probably, with most of the rest of the Cabala, lost,
Ess Gr. Lang, p, 19. s Vol. I pp. 67, 107, 158, 319, 320,. 323, 430; and ntpra, pp, 5, 17, 137, 151.
BOOK III* SECTION 9, 1/1
The Jews could not be taught the Decalogue, nor could they read the Bible in the synagogues
without violating the very law they were learning, or which Moses was repeating to them, if the
secret word were IEUE. I believe that the real secret meaning of the text has reference to the
word OM 5 and that it means Thou shall not speak the name of thy God IEUE irreverently, meaning
the secret name. Or the text may be correctly translated, thou shall not speak the name of the self-
existent God (IEUE meaning self -exist ent) , and that the word referred to was the Om of Isaiah,
described every where by the monogram M, as M-Om-ptha. When Moses asks God by what
name he is to describe him to the Jews, he is told, that he is to describe him by this supposed
forbidden name. How could this be ? Here is a direct contradiction ! It is said, the Jews write
&he word H* ie or fttiT ieue, but pronounce it, in English, Adonai. But though it may be very pious
to call him after the Gentile God Adonis, it is directly contrary to the command of God, who tells
them what they are to call him, not what they are to write him. My explanation removes this
difficulty.
Surely nothing can be too absurd in religion ! God tells Moses he will be called leue by the
Jews ; in strict obedience Moses goes to them and tells them, they are to call him Adonis ! The
Jews say it is written one way and spoken another. When God is said to speak to Moses, there
is no question about writing. The account in writing of the scene between Moses and God is
altogether a different matter.
9. But this raises in my mind some questions respecting the Jewish Targums. If it be true, ass
Gen. Vallancey maintains, that the Chaldee letter never was in common use as a letter, but only
as figures of notation, how came we to have the Targums, as they are called, in that letter ? The
story that they were written for the use of the Jews, when the old Hebrew was no longer under-
stood by them, does not seem very probable, because, not the Chaldee, but the Syriac, was their
vernacular dialect in the time of Christ. Gen. Vallancey says, this never was the letter of the
Assyrians of Babylon, and this is confirmed by the fact I have noticed in another place, that no
inscription was ever found in this letter at that place. l But this letter and dialect are found even
to this day in use in the country of the Callidei in North and South India, with all the mythos of
the Je\vs, joined with the mythos of a crucified Saviour or Messiah, (as is the case in Mexico,)
foretold by name in these Targuius, over and over, in the clearest terms. It is said that they
were read in the Jewish synagogue alternately with the old Hebrew, first a verse of one, then a
verse of the other, for the accommodation of the Jews after they had lost the old Hebrew. I do
not know what is meant by the old Hebrew letter, for we have only the Samaritan, the Syriac,
and the Chaldee letters ,• and the Syriac was the spoken language of the Jews. I begin very much
to suspect that the Targums have been brought from the East, and that they are the sacred books
of the Callidei of the East, suitably accommodated or corrupted—re touch e\
A person who fancies himself very learned has triumphed greatly over my ignorance in not
knowing that the Targums were written about the time of Christ \ for, in my Celtic Druids^ I have
placed them after the time of Origen. Before I delivered my opinion I examined these books with
very great labour and very little profit 5 and carefully inquired into their history. They were, in
my opinion, more favourable to the Christian cause against the Jews than any books which I had
ever read ; 2 but that, notwithstanding they must have been informed of them by the Jewish
converts if they had existed, yet neither Jerom nor any one of the ancient fathers before him ever
quoted them : therefore I said, and I say again, that theie is every reason to believe that they did
not exist before the time of these authors. I do not wish to praise my own learning, but I feel
1 Vol. I. p. 778. * Qnkelos foretells the Messiah twice.
172
TARGUMS.
bound to say, that this is not the only time I have been accused of ignorance for knowing rather
too much. l
A great mystery hangs over the Targums. It is acknowledged that there is no certainty when
or where or by whom they were written. It is very extraordinary that neither Origen, Jerom,
Epiphanius, nor any other of the early Christian fathers, knew any thing about them, particularly
Jerom and Origen. Prideaux and Michaelis2 will bear me out in this, that they are written in
the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, that which was used about the time of Jesus Christ, and was in short
the last language spoken by the Jews whilst a nation, and it is the language now used in South
India, Their professed object, we are told, was to enable the unlearned Jews to have the consola-
tion of reading and understanding the divine word. If these Targums had been written for this
purpose, as it seems not to be doubted that they were, I think there can be no question but that
some or other of the Jewish proselytes would have informed the Christians, Origen, Jerom, &c,,
of them. All the reasons which Dean Prideaux gives for their concealment by the Jews, are in
favour of their publication or exposure by the converts from Judaism to Christianity, even supposing
them to have been concealed. If a single conveit had been made of any respectability, the secret
must have come out, that the Jews had some books which they were charged to conceal from the
Christians. But how could they be concealed, if they were in common use by the unlearned
Jews >
Origen and Jerom both lived m Palestine for some time, the latter a very long time, expressly for
the sake of gaining iufoiination respecting matters of this kind, and he wrote commentaries3 iu
which the Targums, if known to him, must have been of the very first importance to his argument.
Then how does it happen that neither of them has ever, in all his voluminous works, noticed them
in the slightest degree ? Epiphanius also understood Hebrew, or Syro-Chaldee, yet he never notices
them. Several fathers of eminence in the Christian church were converted Jews 5 then how is it
possible to believe that they would have failed lo notice the Targums after their conversion, which
would both have aided them in their arguments against their countrymen, and have justified them-
selves for their conversion.
Respecting Jerom and his search for the Bible in Judsea., whither he went to collect information,
the author of the Revue Encyclopedique gives the following account : "A la solicitation du Pope
" Domase, ce pere de Teglise parcourut plusieurs pais. 11 fut oblige d'apprendre le Chaldcen
" pour recueillir les copies les plus authentiques que les Chaldeens avoient eu des Juifs. II dit
" qu'apres bien de veillies, de fatigues et de recherches m&ne les plus exactes, ii rassemble beau-
" coup de lambeaux disperses," £c., &c.
The present Jews look upon the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan with such high veneration,
that they assert that they were delivered to Moses by God himself from Mount Sinai, with the rest of
their oral law. It cannot be doubted that these Targums are much more favourable to the Christians
than the old Hebrew text or the Septuagint j then, I think, when the Evangelists were quoting pas-
sages as piophecies of a Messiah, they would have quoted from them, or at least have noticed them;
and when Jesus was denouncing the oral law and traditions, he would have said something either for
or against the Targums if they had been in existence. De llosbi, who is named in the Dissertation
on the Poetry of Isaiah by Louth, professed to have proved that the present LXX is not the same as
that translated for Ptolemy. Sabbathier collected all the passages which purported to be taken from
1 It is not uncommon for a man, if he be more learned than his contemporaries, to be accused of ignorance. It
would manifestly serve my purpose to uphold the great antiquity of the Targums, but 1 reason for truth, not for ?vV-
/wy. They shew the opinion of the Jewish church in the time I allut to them, uinch is enough for me.
8 Ch iv. Sect, vi * Piitl Con. Vol IV. Pt li B viri. p (Wi.
BOOK III. SECTION 9. 373
an Italian or Latin version of the Old Testament, made before the time of Jerom, or which he sup-
posed were taken from it, as he did not find them in the Hebrew, the Vulgate, and the LXX; and
he gave them to the world under the pompous title of an Italic version ; but I believe much which
he collected was taken from the scraps of the sacred books of different Italian or other temples,
which had escaped from their adyta. There is a copy of a Bible in Anglo-Saxon, in the British
Museum, made by Aelfric in the tenth century, in which the variations prove that it can never
have been made either fiom the Vulgate, the Italic, the LXX, the Hebrew, or the Samaritan. * The
account of Ararat in Phrygia, pioves that the Sibyls did not take their account from our Bible.
The omisbion of Jacob, in Enoch, proves that he did not copy from our Bible, and the account of
circumcision again proves that Aelfric did not make his translation from any of our books. The
same argument may be applied to the accounts in China, in North and South India, and in Mexico.
The same mythos is in all ; but they have internal evidence that they are not taken from the
Jewish books. All this tends to prove the truth of the remark, in the Revue Encyclope'dique,
that the books of the Jews were Lamheaux disperses at the destruction of Jerusalem. I cannot
conceive how any one can look at the difference in the chronology, as given by Whiston, to say
nothing of the other numerous variations, and not see that the histories are substantially different.
How different must be the account in the Sibyls from that of the Jews, which places Ararat in
Phrygia or old Room ! All these speculations go to prove, that this Genesis, at least, was the
secret book, or a book containing the substance of the first Pontifical government of all nations^
and accommodated in some degree to their varied circumstances. Thus, when the Jewish Paulite
sect arose, it could see nothing but the Jewish system or account of the mythos; all others, in its
eyes, being copied from the Jews : and as this sect, through favourable circumstances, got pos-
session of the power of the worlda it succeeded in destroying almost every thing that operated
against its system, or in corrupting, intentionally or unintentionally, all that it suffered to remain.
Mr. Sharon Turner, in the Transactions of the Society of Literature, to which 1 must refer my
reader, has, at great length, endeavoured to shew that all languages must have been derived from
one original. JEvery argument which he uses is strongly in favour of my theory of one original
written but unspoken language \ but this is nothing against his doctrine of one original spoken
language also,
I think there can be no doubt that the use of letters was at first strictly confined to mythology 3
1 On this translation I have leceivcd the following information :
" The Anglo-Saxon translation alluded to was made by the celebrated Aelfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, elected
" to that see in the year 993; but this \voik was completed before that period, while he was yet a monk. It consists,
" 1st, of the Jive books attributed to Moses ; and, 2dly, of the books of Josue and book of Judges. These seven hooks
" Aelfiic styles the ' Heptateuchus.' They are preserved in a very ancient MS. in the Bodl. Lib., and thence published
" by Ed. Thwaites, dedicated to Hicks. To these he added Aelfric's translation of the book of Job, from a MS in the
" Cotton Lib.; the Gospel of Nicodemus translated by an unknown author from Latin into Anglo-Saxon; aud, lastly,
" a Fragment of the History of Judith, in the same language, completes the volume.
** The most important of these are the Pentateuch, Aelfric assures us, that he made the translation from Latin —
" from what Latin translation I know not. It does not agree with the Vulgate, nor yet with the ancient Italic , if
" Sabbathier's icstoration can be relied on. It differs much from our common translation, and the differences aie fre-
* quent and material. Yet where it does agree, the Anglo-Saxon is almost in every instance marked by superior
' brevity and clearness. In some instances it clears up passages quite unintelligible in our Version. Many passages
* are omitted in the Anglo-Saxon, and some most important laws— as that in the code of Sinai for the ciroumcmon of
' all males. Aelfric's work does not, however, seem to me to be an abridgment, and I am inclined to suspect, that
' this law of circumcision was not an ordinance of Moses, because, if it was, why was it not obeyed during the time
** that the Israelites wandered in the Desert ? but came first to be enforced upon their settlement in Canaan, as we are
" assured of in the the book of Jobiie. Be tlrib as it may, tUfo Anglo-Saxon translation may be of good service in some
u subsequent and better version,"
1/4 TARGUMS.
and in consequence of this it is, that we find every really ancient mythologic name, when examined
to the bottom, admit of explanation by numbers. Let the reader look at the definitions of the
first book of Euclid, at the lines, and remember that all numbers, and all letters, were described
by right lines. Let him think upon the Arabian Oriental Algebraic art, the date of which no one
knows— the art of Geometry, the Pythagorean forty-seventh proposition of Euclid, and the letters,
symbols of numbers, and lines, and doubt if he can, that this art was known to the great explica-
tor of the universe, Pythagoras, who declared that all knowledge centred in numbers and lines, and
who was burnt by his more wise and orthodox countrymen, for the wickedness of teaching this
and similar doctrines.
The word Yoni is acknowledged to be the same as lune. It is the same as the nil* iune of the
Israelites, which means dove. It is the name of the islands of Java and Sumatra, which thus carry
the same name as the island of lona and of Columba, of the Hebrides of Scotland, both, no
doubt, sawed isles. It is the same word as the Juno of the Latins.1 It is a word composed of
the Hebrew word .T ie, or the Syrian word la, and the word ni9 which I do not understand ; but
'which, perhaps, may be only a nominal termination, like en in Cris-en, or os in Xp^£-0£j or the
Latin us, in Christ-us. It is the IE of the Apollo of Delphi, It is the Jan-nus and Ja-na of the
Romans. It is the Diana or Di-ja-na or dwa-ja-na. It became, when the Greeks perfected their
language, by the invention of a neuter gender, the To O*>, or the I Oy. It is the Hebrew ft> ie or
miT ieue I am that I am— or, grammatically, — I shall be what I have been; or a definition of the
creative power. It is the root from which great numbers of the Sanscrit and Indian Gods have
been formed. Yavana, is the ie and vaha, to carry, one of the meanings of the word ana, but which
must have another meaning ; because the word Ya-vana means a sect professing the superior in-
fluence of the female over the male nature;2 and I believe it means to bear as well as to carry, and
has precisely the same meaning as our word to bear, used to carry a burden — to produce a child.
Hence we see why the Ya-vanas became loniaus. It is the root of Nar-ay-ana. Nar in Sanscrit
is water, the Hebrew *ina ner, river or water, and the word means IE carried in the, or on the
water. 3 it is Kanya; that is, Can or Cunia, &c., &c. It has the same meaning as the Amba of
India,4 and the Omphe of Greece, and the Om and Ammon of Egypt ; these latter being of both
genders, which, I am persuaded, answers to one sense of the Bya of India,6 meaning Bis-Ja,
Double-Ja — male and female. Finally it is the Argha.
The more I study my subject, the more facts I discover to prove that the Pythagorean doctrine
was true, that all learning and science rebolved itself at last into numbers. We find the Hebrew
God called El and I, We read much of Ion, of lon-ia, of Jan-a, Jun-o, lav-anas, and of Bet-on,
JWV3. bit-un, and Beth-aven, {IK-fiO- bit auu. Now, how comes ON to mean, as I have shewn, the
generative principle ? It is the neuter of the Greek pronoun b$,G meaning existence, which always
carried along with it the idea of destruction, and necessarily reproduction, that is, the generative
principle ; and I-ov is the ON of I, and I, the jod, is ten, the X-, the perfect number, the numeral
meaning of the ten avatars, eternally renewed, of the creative God, the AOFO2J. It is also the
To Oi>j the T-1«y ON, that is, the cross of Ezekiel, with which the believers were marked in the
forehead, after the manner of the Buddhists of India, and, indeed, of all the sects of India, who arc
marked with some sign or other. In the same manner the Christian priest, ir> baptism, marks
the child on the forehead with the cross. If Plato had not made the ov the fountain of his rnythos,
I should have thought this too refined or mystical to be credited.
As the city of ON or Heliopolis, or of the generative power, was called the city of destruction, so
1 Asiat. Res. Vol. III. p. 364. « Ib. p. 358. 3 Ib. 4 Ib. p. 360. 5 Ib. p. 358. G Participle w, qu. ? Ed.
BOOK III. SECTION 10. 175
the KaTiog or beautiful of Greece was the Call or Goddess of destruction with the Indians. From this
principle she became the Goddess of Time, because Time is the greatest of destroyers ; and from
her, the last age, when all was supposed to be destroyed or finished, was called the Cali-Yug or
Cali-age. The same feeling in Europe which makes devotees deal in nothing but damnation,
makes the Indian Goddess Call a favourite, her devotees having first converted the beauty into
destruction.
The meaning of the iT ie of the Hebrews, as I have repeatedly remarked, is the self -existent. It
seems singular that, unless he were the Supreme, he should have this name- But the same thing
happens in India, whence no doubt it came. The supreme Being in the second Veda says, "From
" me Brahma was born ; he is above all; he is Pitama, or the father of all men; he as Aja^ or
" self-existing," From him, Col. Wilford says, they represent Adima (which word means both
first male and female}) to have descended. She is the same as Jva or /, the female energy of na-
ture, or descended from /—the same as Isa or Isi, male and female. * All these are nothing but
Hebrew names written in Sanscrit.
If a person will think deeply he will have no difficulty in forming an idea how, when the art of
writing was secret, a written word would be magical. A few lines scrawled in the presence of a
person on a bit of leaf or bark might be given to him, and he might be told, whoever is a magician
or initiated on seeing that scrawl, will know your name, or any other desired fact. A person must
think deeply on this, or he will not see the force of the argument which arises from the dupe having
no idea of the nature or power of conveying knowledge by symbols. As the Chaldaean priests
were the only people who understood the secret of writing, it followed, that they were all magi or
magicians \ and when the secret did begin to creep out, all letters were magical or supernatural.
This and some other secrets— the telescope, astronomy, the loadstone — made the Chaldasanb
masters of the world, and they became Moguls. Mogul is but Al-Mag, The Mage. On this
account all the princes of India desire to be invested with the pallium by the old Mogul of Delhi,
successor of Gengis Khan, of Tartary, the last incarnation of divine Wisdom. The mythos at last
always reverts to its birth-place, Indian Tartary — the Mount Solima, the snow-capped Meru,
where the Gods sit on the sides of the North. How the Mogul comes to be Lord Paramount oi
the world, I shall explain in a future book.
10. The observation of Dr. Young respecting probabilities is very important j for, as the written
languages of all the nations of the old world contain a considerable number of words in common,
the probability that they are all derived from one parent stock rises almost to a certainty. This
leaves the question of the derivation of the genus man from one or more original pairs, nearly un-
touched. For the diffusion of the Pandsean, Catholic or Universal Buddhism, which seems evi-
dently to have gone with the secret system of letters, will readily account for a certain number,
and a considerable number, of the same words in all the different languages. It will also readily
account for the variety which may be observed in their mixture. Wherever either the arithmetical
or the first syllabic system extended, there a mixture of words might be expected ; and it seenib
probable, from hundreds of circumstances, that the language of the Chaldaean Brahmin, which was
that of which the Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopian, Tamul, Pushto, and Syriac, were close dialects, was
the language into which the arithmetical language was first translated, by means of the then new-
ly-invented syllables. If we suppose the languages of the earth to have been at that time widely
spread, and that dialects had begun to be formed, when the art of rendering the arithmetic into
letters and syllables was discovered \ the secret society of initiated who discovered it, in every
» Here is most clearly the Hebrew mn eie, or rr ie. Asiat. Res. Vol. V. p. 247.
J/6 DR. YOUNG. — SOL,
country, would begin to translate it each into his own dialect. This theory, I think, will readily
account for Hebrew and Indian words in Britain, and words of Britain in India, The possibility
of a written, unspoken language i& proved by its actual present existence in Java, which cannot be
denied. The possibility of its existence by means of numeral ciphers must be admitted 3 and I am
quite certain that the actual existence of the cubtoin of using arithmetical signs to describe certain
mythic words, and the possibility which I have shewn of many others having been formed from
arithmetic, raises a very strong probability, that the arithmetical system has been general. Of a
theory like this proofs can never be expected; probability alone must be looked for. To this theory
/see no objection ; but if there be certain difficulties which, when pointed out, I cannot explain,
in such a case as this, they cannot be considered to invalidate it, as long as a possibility remains;
of an unknown explanation of them being discovered. If the theory be true, it is not within the
scope of probability, that all difficulties should be removed, even if all the learning and talent in
the world were employed upon it; much less when they are attempted to be removed by a solitary
individual, who claims neither much learning nor much talent ; and who, from the peculiarly re-
condite nature of his subject, can obtain no assibtance.
I consider that it admits of no doubt, that all the written syllabic languages with which we arc-
acquainted are the sarae3 rcith mezely dialectic variations \ and that all the alphabets or systems*
of letters are one, only with the letters in different forms, as we have the English language and
letter though one, yet WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT /oras. The Arabic table of letters and numbers,
compared with the Greek, proves this. We have here all the numbers in order, but the letters iu
disorder. We ought in considering these subjects never to forget, that all the various dialects of
the world are like the spokes of a wheel, as we go back converging towards one another, till they
meet in the centre; and, in a contrary direction, diverging, till at last they are no longer visible
to one another. I believe that historical circumstances might be adduced, which would render it
highly probable that, fifteen hundred years A.C., the people speaking all the then existing lan-
guages, could, though perhaps in some cases with difficulty, understand one another.
] 1. If we consider the effect of these numeral letters of this unspoken language, we shall imme-
diately see that, when the numerals or ciphers became changed into letters, they would necessa-
rily come to be read and pronounced, sometimes from right to left, and sometimes from left to
ri^ht.
After man had made the discovery of the sjllabic word liuaa, as described above, in Section 2,
p. 150, perhaps the next attempt would be made on a word for the Sun, in the following manner.
We will suppose a person wished to record the Sun, and to do it by means of numbers having the
names of trees, these numbers, that ifa the numerical system, having so far advanced as to be sim-
plified into a symbol or monogram for each number forwards — as we find it in Greece. He would
then inscribe it thus, in right-lined angled symbols, having the meaning of one of the cycles which
I suppose him to have invented.
S1— C the sign of 300, called Sail.
U i — V the sign of 6, called Uenu
L — L the sign of 30, called Luis.
336 the name of the Lunar Year.
I apprehend that the names of all things would be at the first monosyllables of the simplest
1 It will be obfeeivcd that the Author heie, as in many other instances, conceived himself at liberty to use either
Hebrew or Greek letteis for his numerals. Editor
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 120 177
kind 5 and that the first name of the tree called Suil, would be5 not two syllables of four letters,
but one of three — Sul, which, in numbers, gives the first lunar year of 336 days. Now, when a
person wrote the three symbols C V L> he could not very well help observing, that by pronouncing
the three first sounds of the three names of the three trees, he would, by a fortunate and remarka-
ble accident, have the sound of the name of the tree SuL Here, then, we have correctly a sound,
Sul, described by symbols or marks which were now, in this case, become letters, each maik or
letter standing for a sound, and the three marks describing a sound, a number, a tree, the Sun, and
the Lunar year — in all having five meanings. This would lead him to try if he could not describe
other things as he described this tree (now unknown to us). We will suppose the Eg, as an ex-
ample. He would look for a tree out of the twenty-eight, whose name should begin with the
sound which we call E, and he would find Eadha, the sign of five, and having the mark or mono-
gram E, and he would inscribe E. He would then try to find a tree which had a name that began
with the sound which we call G, and he would find the Gort, having the mark or monogram f"" ;
he would then inscribe that mark below the other, and he would have ,~- >^ \ ?_. Tims he
1 )Eg-t 1
would discover the art of using the monograms or symbols for numbers, or symbolic numerals, as
letters to describe syllables, and letters, and sounds, and the symbols for the numbers would thus
become letters.
Now the next word of letters discovered might be Suil or Suli, found in the same manner to
denote the solar cycle of 366 thus,
W s-300 Suil,
1 u— 6 Uern.
^ Ir: 50 Luis,
> i= 10 lodha.
366
and thus the Sul changed into the Suli as science improved.
This is the Suli Minerva of Bath— the cycle that we find in the name by which Stonehenge was
called in Welsh, Emreis— that is, $:r5, l*.~ 40, /?zrlOO, e~5, fclO, cr=200rr360 j or, y~S} ju-40,
pn:100, ^ 8, fclOj o"—gOOrz36(5. In Su-li we have a word of two syllables ; and thus we advance
another step in literal and alphabetic writing. In the word 2^10 $fc63(), salus, health, salvation,
Ralus-bury, we have another step ; and our word Sun has probably been Sin— 360, or Sunir:366,
The word tihw means three. I cannot help suspecting this to refer directly to the Trinity. It
has both the meaning of three and of director or chief or DISPOSER, as £3>Ditf smim in Gen, i. S.1
12. Joseph was considered to be one of the divine incarnations or avatars for the salvation of
the Egyptians. He was the Phoinix which appeared every 600 years. 6f Et vocavit Parohjiomen
"Joseph Saphenath Pahaneah"* Ka/ exaXs<re &apaa) ra Qvopa, Lo<nj$, SPoyfloft$ajty;g —
ntyD ru£)3f zpnt-ponh.3 This passage is rendered by Jerom, " Fertitque nomen ejus (Pharao) et
" vocavit eum, Lingud Egyptiacd, SALVATOREM MCNDI." And in Suidas Joseph is called by a
name still more curious: "Cum autem FAUNUS insidiis appeteretur & propriis Fratribus in Egyptum
fugit4 The Hebrew word has been rendered Revealer of the Secrets of the Stars. But I think
no one can doubt what the Abb£ de Rocher has pointed out—- that the Faunus and m$Qpo?ih is the
1 Vid. Parkhurst in voce »*?tt sis, IX. 3 Pagnin.
3 Gen. xli, 45,* see Vol. I. p, 502. 4 Diet, de Suidas, verbo
VOL. II. 2 A
178 JOSEPH, PROTEtTS. STALLS.
Roman Faunus and the Phoinix. But Joseph was also called by another name iD^ttf slit. Gen.
xlii. 6. l In the B'Vtf slit and oVttf sft we have a trifling mispetting (if any attention is to be paid
to radical letters) of the feminine termination of the ^ttfczSGO, for the origin of Salus, Salutis, for
the name of the Sun, the Phoenix, and the JRedemptor or Salvator MundL And in old Irish our
female Sail, v snSOO, *> £-30, b fc30=360, means a year.2
Several authors have thought that the Proteus of the Greeks, which word has the same meaning
as B*/W slit, was Joseph, This, I think, arose from his repeated incarnation in new cycles —
different, but yet the same — in each cycle a Saviour or Redemptor Mundi ; thus they made him a
Proteus. His name Psonthom Phaneah, is our Proteus, or Phantom, and the Santon of the Orien-
tals. The Phaneah is the $yw~6Q8.3
The shrines in which the Gods were placed in India were called Stalls. These are the stalls of
our Cathedrals, and of our Cow-houses. Hog, in his history of Cornwall,4 says, that the sanc-
tuary of the God Hu, or the Sun, or the Bacchus of the Druids, was an Ox-stall, where the God
presided as a living animal, 5 or as the image of a bull. The name of the Bull, in the numeral
symbolic letters, I have no doubt, was the same as we have found him so often.— Stll, or Siz200,
T— 300, LL= 100—600. 6 When the numerals became letters, the habitation of the Stll9 by the
regimen, came to be the place Sill. In this way, from this formation of the Hebrew, when in
regimine, innumerable words took their origin. I believe the Hu> which is the common name of
God in Wales, is only a corruption of the Hebrew pronoun Klf7 eua, meaning HE. In India, the
Gods are placed in the temples in stalla or stalls, that is, recesses or places of safety. In the West,
the Gods were placed in Cellae and CONCLAVIA. Hence come the cells and stalls in our cathe-
drals.7 The Cell is the ta>n eifcl
To be wise is to be enlightened. Lux is the Logos by whom all things were made ; and the
Logos is Rasit— Rst, p^crVr^eoO. And Lux makes Lucis ; then LX, ^V-650. Again, L—50,
1 u=6, w srzSOO, ' fclO, ttf 5=300=666. 8 The Fleur-de-Lis is the Lotus, the flower sacred to
the Lux, or the Sul, or the Sun. The Auriflamme, the flame of fire or fire of gold, 9 was the stand-
ard. The three Lotuses or Lises were the coat of arms, emblems of the Trimurti, the three per-
sons of the triple generative power, or of the Sun or Lux. r<f sle, Shilo, is probably ^itf sfcSGO,
or #—600, ?L— 50—10, l,— 6=666. This is Silenus. I have no doubt it was the invocation in the
Psalms, called Selah, nbo sle.
The Greek word 'H?uo£ is nothing but a variation of the Suli, Sul, and Sol. H, ij, is the Hebrew
emphatic article, and the word is soil, that is, suil, and 5/2=360 or 366, or szfc336 ; Sun in Sans-
crit is &ona, the first three letters coalescing into one. Hence evidently our Sun. Here we find
the meaning of Mount Sion— Mount of the Sun $ the same as Har-ol-ump, that is, Har-al-om,
1 See Parkhurst in voce tt^ttf *&. From e»W the word Sultan is said to have been derived j but it is from the woid
sit or $lt>
* See Guerin de Rocher, Vol. I pp. 113-120; Vol. IL p, 213 ; Vol. V, p. 22.
^ See Vol. L pp. 169, 181, 199, 500, 587, 607- 4 Note on p. 158.
5 This was the Welsh Bull with, three Cranes oa his back, called Bud was Trigeranon, answering to the Indian Buddha
Trivicrama-ditya, or Buddha with triple energy, as explained by Col. Tod.
c Here, it will be observed, the Author again quits the Hebrew, and makes stll equal 600, partly by Greek and partly
by Roman numerals. Yet see his note 5, infra, p. 187? and Chap, il. Sect. 1« Editor.
7 Jurieu, Vol. II. p 248. 8 On this mixture of numerals see note supra. Editor.
9 We have formerly found (Vol. I. p. 600) the %^<; and the %pu$ connected* The %^$ was an incarnation of the solar
fin. Here the aurum and aur, the gold, and the j?re, are connected.
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 13. ]J*g
Mount of the God Oni. Gebelin, in his Monde Primitif, has undertaken to prove, that the minuet
was the dance oblique of the ancient priests of Apollo, performed in their temples. "The diagonal
" line, and the two parallels described in this dance, were intended to be symbolical of the Zodiac,
" and the twelve steps of which it is composed were meant for the twelve signs, and the
" months of the year." 1 Little do our village girls, when dancing round the May- pole, and our
fine ladies when dancing the Cotillon Q think, that they are exhibiting the most profound
astronomical learning; but they are doing so nevertheless. Dancing was originally merely reli-
gious, intended to assist the memory in retaining the sacred learning which originated previous to
the invention of letters. It began in sense, it is continued in nonsense. But why not? Does it
not make them happy? Then merrily may the bonny lasses dance 5 they shall never be disturbed
by me. Alas ! disturbance will come soon enough, without me.
The Salii were Sulii or priests of Sul, who was worshiped with circular dances, whence the
French or Franks, who were peculiarly attached to the dancing superstition, were called Salii.
The president of the college of Salii in Rome was called Prsesul — our officer is called Consul.
Indeed I believe, that there were no parts of the rites and ceremonies of antiquity, which were
«ot adopted with a view to keep in recollection the ancient learning, before letters were known.
Thus, as I have just said, that which began in sense is continued in nonsense; for since the art of
writing has become known, all forms and ceremonies are really nonsense. But it served the pur-
pose of the priests to retain them, and that is the real reason of their continuance. It was the
same in the ceremonies of the Jews. The whole system was held to be a microcosm of the Deity,
the Templum, a part of it, and with reference to this every part of it had a meaning. But I shall
discuss the microcosm at large in a future book. It may be enough to notice here, as one example,
the fringe of the Jewish dress, which is formed of cords knotted in fives and sixes, and tens and
twelves, of knots contrived, as the Jews say, so as to form, in their various combinations, the
number 600, and the name of it is JVSPJf zizit, which is n fc400, > a= 10, % s— 90, > fcrlO, 2f srrQOr:
600, In these fringes, directed to be worn on the garments, and to be looked upon in a particular
manner, (and called 600,) we have, if I mistake not, an example of Moses, under divine direction*
practising that which Sir William Drumrnond called buffoonery^ But this word has several
meanings, which are remarkable. As *x zi it describes exactly the earns of Tibet, of Scotland, of
Ireland, and of Arabia also, a very striking and important identity.3 It also means a flower, and
a thiirplate of metal. 4 The temple was a microcosm of the globe. The high priest in his pon-
tificals in the Sanctum Sanctorum, surrounded with his Tzizit, was a microcosm of the tree of
knowledge with its flowers, in the garden of delight. The flowers are said to be of the colour of
the Hyacinth, as I understand, because it is blue } but I think this is not the meaning. The Lotus
of the Nile is blue. I shall probably return to this. The parcels of knots in five and sixes, with
their various combinations, are beautifully descriptive of the lustrums, and of combinations to form
the double cycles of 3()0 and 432. 5 Here we see more proofs of what Pythagoras meant, when he
said, that all science resolved itself into numbers.
13, We will now try to find the meaning of the word Solomon ; often spelt Soleiman, Sulimon,
1 Hog's Hist. Corn. p. 460. s See Numb, xv, 38, 39 ; Deut. xxii. 12.
3 Vide Purkhurst in voce. * Vide jRy.
5 The Catholic beads and a string of them called a Rosary are the same. The Rosary is from the word ras wisdom;
the Bead, in like manner, is from the word Ved, or Wisdom, Beten, in German, is to pray.
180 SOLOMON.
Suleimon, and flebw slme. Pezron has found the word Sol for Sun among the Celts, and I consider
that, having it in Latin, we have it in the Etruscan. We have it also, I think, in the language of
ancient Britain, in the Fons Solis at Bath. As we have just seen, the first word Sol, or Sul, or Suli,
forms the cycles of 336 and of 366, and spelt with an X or D final, probably of 666. The second word
is the D3=90, and also CttzrtoO. This MN or Menu was in a particular manner the symbol of
mind. Minos or Menu or Numa was a wise lawgiver. The Mn formed the only animal in the
creation possessing mind, called man for this reason. Thus the wisdom of the Sun became Solo-
mon.1 With reference to the same mythos we have the Lm 650, the Lam or Lam-da, holy LM,
and L M B=7'2, and the Men-des or holy Goat, which is the same as the Sheep. And when
science improved, we have the M^alone equal to 600. With reference to the same, we have the
fig-tree called Lamed, the sacred tree of the Indians, which fructifies in its own peculiar manner
something like the Lotus. * We have also Mount Meru, called by the Siamese Menu, or, at least,
Maria called Mania, which, combined with the circumstances that we have seen relating to mounts
and meres of the Aja or Lamb and Goat, justify a suspicion that Meru was Menu. With refe-
rence to this, the centre letter of the two Irish alphabets is in one called Moiria, and in the other
Muin, substituting the N and R for one another, but each the centre letter. I cannot help sus-
pecting, that all our Meres and Marias were corruptions of Menus or arose from them. I think it
probable that Salman-asar was the Caesar Solomon — Salmon-^Esar.
The second person of the Trinity being an incarnation of the solar power, the word to si came
to mean Saviour,3 and from this comes the word abw slum> and obw slm9 peace, and rhw s.le,
Shilo, Saviour, as is proved by his being called by Onkelos KIWD msiha, that is, THE Saviour or
THE Messiah. From this we may now see where the Soli or Suli-Minerva of Bath comes from.
She comes from the Saviour Minerva thus : Sol or Sul is Saviour, as the Sun is always called,
therefore the Sul is both Sun and Saviour, and Miner is also Saviour.4 fte plz is the same as
the Pala noticed by me in another place, and is the origin of the Pallas.5
I imagine that the following is the true translation of 2 Samuel xii. 24 and 25 : "And he called
his name Solomon (HDto slme), and leue loved him. And Nathan the prophet put his hand upon
him (TO-nto'l uislh-lid} and called him after leue, (or on account of IE *"|DJD bobur) Jedidiah,"
(ITTT ididie) that is, the most holy IE, or, in Hebrew idiom, Holy, Holy IE. Here we have the
%£iporQVict, and Christening, or giving the Christian name, usually given with us at the baptism.
I assume that the i d in the word YH Ud ought to be *i r. With this the whole is sense, without
it the whole is nonsense; and I think most Hebrew scholars who shall go through my work, and
see all the proofs which I shall give of my theory, will agree with me that the emendation ought
to be made,
The Milyans of Lycia were called SolymL They were also called Telmissi and Termillians.6
They came from Crete. At Miletus was the crucified Apollo, — Apollo who overcame the serpent,
jn£) jwftt, or the evil principle. Thus Callimachus celebrating this achievement, in his hymn to
Apollo, has these remarkable words, lines 103, 104-—
1 I have little doubt that the monkey was called Hanuman from the same principle, and that the word Hanu was a
a word of qualification, as perhaps, Mf-ma& or Inferior man.
* Vail Coll Hib. Vol. V, p. 130. 3 See Parkhurst under rhv sle and ato dm,
4 See Pausanias, and also Parkhurst in voce ")JQ mnr and fisplz II, where she is shewn to be the same as Venus,
and to mean the generative power of the Heavens j and the same as nWK asre Venus or the Saviour. See Parkhurst
asr, IV.
Vol. I. pp, 629, 630. e See Beloe's Herodotus, Vol I. p. 236.
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 14. 181
— £v0v o-e MHTHP
A022HTHPA
" Thee thy blest mother bore, and pleased assign'd
The willing Saviour of distress'cl mankind." DODD.J
From this root also come the word "MID ptr, to expound or interpret dreams, and 11DD ptur, inter-
pretation, and paterae leaves, i. e. the divining leaves of the Sibyl;2 also the name of a town in
Mesopotamia, (Numb. xxii. 5 ; Deut. xxiii. 4,) from an oracle at that place, and Patrse in Achaia,
and Patara in Lycia, from an oracular temple of Apollo, whence Horace calls him Patareus,
Hence also the priests among the Gauls were called Paterae. 3 Whence also came the little
images of the Phoenicians Haraimi or Patgeci by Herodotus. In Python, the Serpent, may be
found the destroyer, the Evil Spirit. Apollo was, I doubt not, the son of one of the females to
whom we find the altars inscribed with the words Tribus Mariebus, who was the Virgo Paritura
of Egypt and Gaul. Patra or Patta, in Sanscrit, means a leaf. The cups used in sacrifice in
Sanscrit are called Pateras, and are made of a large leaf. The Greek word Petalon is the same as
this.4
14. We may suppose another of the earliest words discovered, precisely in the same manner as
the Sul, would be C> '5 W5 denoting 360. I suppose that the words which we found above,
pp, 160, 161, to stand for the cycle of fourteen, namely, d£ or id, in order perhaps to imprint the day
strongly on the memory, or from religious motives, had become sacred or holy.
Now we will suppose man called a certain river the river of the Solar orb : he would, in nume-
ral letters, first call it the river of Sin, or 360, and next, the river of the sacred or holy Sin— and
that would be Sindi; which was the name of a sacred river in Thrace, and of the river Indus in
India— one the river of the JEWS of Thrace, and the other the boundary of the great Mesopotamia
of loudia or Ayoudia or Judaa of India.5 But the important part of this observation to us, at the
present, is, that we have got another name of two syllables.
Bud is Bzr2, D=:4z:6, the root of 439, Father is ab, abba. He is the first of all created and
creating beings; thus he is Bn2, A:rl— 3, the Trimurti, and the root of almost innumerable
superstitious fancies about the generation of numbers. Thus, also, Ab-ba 3-f 3, the root again of
the cycle of 432, a Roman Lustrum. I suspect Abba was both parent and father; as Beeve is
both cow and bull; and as Khan was both king and queen.
We have found God called Ad, in India, and iu Western Syria. A, is one, and d, is di— holy
one or monad. And the word Monad is Mn 650, di, holy, A, one, the holy one, or To ON ; that
is, ON, the Generative power,6 called *HX*0£ by the Greeks.
Every thing was microcosinic : Adam and Eve, made after the image of God, were a microcosm
of Brahme and Maia, 7 their three sons a microcosm of the Trimurti. Noah, his wife, and three
sons, were the same. It would have been singular if we had not found Adam and Eve in the
arithmetical language. Q1N adm, is I (or the Monad or root) of the di, holy, cycle of Om or M,
— the God described on the fringe of the priest's garment.
i Parkhurst, p. 602. * See Celtic Druids, p. 93. 3 See Bocliart, Vol I, p, 666.
* Asiat Res. Vol. VI p. 499.
5 The river Sind is also called Abba-Sin, or father Sin. (Tod's Essay on the Indian and Theban Hercules, Trans.
Asiat* Soc.) I have little or no doubt from the word (Abyssinian) Abbasinian, that the Upper Nile was once called
Sin-di, or Abba-Sin. The term father was constantly applied to the Nile in Egypt—as we wy, father Thames,
« See Vol, I. p. 109. » Ibid, p. 348.
162 CRYPTOGRAPHY, INDIAN.
In Volume I. p. 643, I say that the word ay ob has the meaning of Serpent, and that I shall
explain this in a future page. The letter a b denotes 2, and the letter y o denotes 70, and the two
denote the recurring cycle 72, the most common,, and, perhaps, important of all the sacred cycles,
but not more common or important than its emblem the Serpent.
Why did Jesus say he founded his church upon a rock or stone ? I have shewn (in note 2 of
Volume L p. 34(5) the word stan or stone, both in India and Europe, to have the same meaning \
therefore it follows, that it is a very old word, probably an arithmetical word. May it have been
c-'nSOO, T'HSOO, y— 50, v'=50, stnn cycle of 600? It is very true, that the whole system was
founded upon that cycle. What was the loadstone, which I have supposed carried in the Amphi-
prtimna as its mast, the mast of Cockayne,1 of Minerva, of Wisdom, but L'-di-stone the holy
stone ? It was, most assuredly, of all inanimate things, the best emblem of Wisdom. What can
be more precious than the magnet ? This is highly figurative, no doubt; but who can deny that
the language of Jesus was figurative, and as highly figurative too ? Tffis Lapis would be the Lapis
of 600 5 then, by regimine, the lapis stnn.
I am quite certain that no one who considers that Jesus taught in parables, as he said, that he
might not be understood, will think it unreasonable to go to an senigma for the meaning of the
^enigmatical expression to Simon Peter, Cephas, Pierre, Thou art Petw9 and upon this rock I will
build my church; Matt xvi. 18. Now I think the stone on which Jesus meant to found his
church, was Saxum, Sax, Saca, in short, Buddha or divine wisdom. This is in perfect keeping
with other equivoques which Jesus is said to have used. The stone of Sax would become the
stone Sax, with the Latin termination. Jesus Christ was a disciple of Buddha \ that is, of Divine
Wisdom. Who will deny this ? Thus we come at the first name of Buddha, Saca. Littleton
bays, Saxum a stone— <ra|o) Trsrpa, yhb slo, K->3<pa$? Chald. et Syr. K*B»S kipia, Heb. *p kp.
A play upon language, or an equivoque being clearly meant, no objection can be taken to an ex-
planation arising from an equivoque. Sax is evidently divine wisdom, Buddha. It is also a stone,
the anointed stone of Jacob, the emblem of the generative power or wisdom. Now, when I reflect
upon the way in which our c has changed to s, and to £", and upon the collateral circumstances, in
defiance of rules of etymology I am induced to suspect that the *p kp is the *DD spr or letter
which we have found always connected with wisdom, and the Zephir or the Holy Ghost ; and that
it is also Sup and Soph.
15. The works of Fabricius shew that the Cryptographic writing by ciphers was common with
the early fathers of the church ; but this was practised in India to a much later date, as may be
seen in Col. Tod's Rajahstan;2 even to the year 1204 of the Hegira,
The work noticed by Col. Tod is said to have been written by a man who styles himself a
Shufeek of Arungabad, or, as the Colonel says, " Rhymer of Arungabad." I doubt not that he
was a poet, but he was also, probably, a Shufeek or Sophee* The work is called Bisat-al-Gnae'm,
or, in one sense, "Display of the Foe?' but it is meant also by these words, the Colonel says, to
describe the year 1204, in which it was written. He gives " the numerical value of the letters
which compose the title" thus :
« B. S. A. T. a, 1. G. N. A, E. M.
2. 60. 1. 9. 1. 9.1000.50. 1. 10. 40,"=1183.
In Hebrew numerals it would stand thus :
3 See Volume I. pp. 340, 344, 345. 2 Vol. I. 235,
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 15.
183
No form l
-J>
D
60
tf
Aleph
1
fa
Teth , . ,
9
ft
1
*>
G
1000
5
...,.,., 50
N
1
>
10
n
40
1204 t
Bsat-al-Gnaim.
Here we have a writing containing two meanings. I suspect this was the case with the whole of
Genesis ; that it had a meaning for the learned and for the vulgar.
The Colonel observes, "as the total is only 1183, either the date is wrong, or a deficient value
" is given to the numerals j" but the mistake is in giving the power of 9 to the Lamed instead of
30. This correction brings it right. Here we have the Cryptographic writing in a very late date,
and it is in the Hebrew names of letters in India. I have not satisfied myself as to its real Hebrew
meaning, but I suspect it means to compare the uncivilized or early princes of Mewar to a plan-
tation or garden of wild grapes. But it furnishes a very strong support to my doctrine that the
Hebrew was the root of all their Indian languages.
If figures were the origin of letters, that is, the first letters, all the original names of the Gods
would naturally be numerical ; and it seems natural that they should often remain as we find
them 5 but not in like manner other names. It seems also natural, if notation were discovered by
placing stones at the side of each other, as was probably the case, that addition, from perpendicu-
lar lines, should have been the first operation. The first of these operations would be to record
time, moons, years, cycles,— and the collection would form the first name of the planet whose
cycle it rcorded. Thus the first name of the moon would be, as we have found it above, p. 151,
Evohe, !
1 May not ^ have borne the same numerical value as £ in the cognate Arabic or Persian ? As Col. Tod gives E=: 10fl
the Author seems fully justified in substituting >= 10, in the word Gna&n. Editor.
3 The Egyptians revered the Moon under the emblem of a Cat. Here, in our English, I doubt not that we have
nearly the first name of the Moon. Kaph^SO* A* I, Teth=9=*30~ Kit. The Irish Phennicshe made 608; the
4wv »608 , in Coptic, 0w -600. The Chaldeans called the Phoenix yh* ^o-Caph final«500, Laroed^SO, Oin =70-
600. The Yug (or age as it ought to be called) of Cali or Clo=:600. As we have found the famous State of Western
Syria called Phcenic-ia, that is, the Phenmoshe of Ireland, (vide Celtic Druids,) and w, that is, country of Phennic&he or
of Phenn, it is very natural to expect its capital would have a name from the same kind of mythology: thus we have,
Sidn
»- 10
i« 4
i- 50
"364
',R.H,orTyre.
Its daughter might be called
[This, however ingenious, appears vei y doubtful, as Sidon or Zidon was not spelt with » but with y. See, in
184
VOWEL POINTS,
16. I must now return for a moment to the subject of the ancient vowels. (The vowel points
of the Hebrew I have long since proved in the Classical Journal, and in the Appendix to my first
\ chime, to be modem.) It has constantly been said, that all ancient written languages were
without vowels. This, I have no doubt, has passed down as a tradition from the earliest times,
like many other old sayings without thought, by ignorant people. It is not true, and never was
true of any of them, as a person may at once satisfy himself by looking into any of the old lan-
guages. But it was partly true. The least consideration of the manner in which I have shewn
that the system of figures grew into a system of symbolic letters will prove, that it could not be
otherwise than as it is, and this will tend strongly to prove the truth of my whole system. For it
is evident that, after the trees acquired names, and the figures were called after the trees, and the
fiist unspoken but written language was made by using the figures or ciphers, whether the words
\tere composed out of the forms which were afterward vowels or consonants or both, as in the
word iivaa for 28, it would be merely an effect depending, in each case, upon the contingency
whether the names of the trees used began with a vowel or a consonant; this is the reason why,
IP the twenty-eight letters, we have several letters with the same sound, though of different
powers of notation. In this case the names of several of the trees must have begun with the same
letter ; and this is the reason why, in the words of the first language, the vowels and consonants
are mixed without any system whatever. In some words there are no vowels, others consist in
part of vowels, and some of all vowels } and this takes place in the Celtic, the Hebrew, in fact, in
every language which we have been able to trace up to a very remote antiquity, and among them
was anciently included the Greek.
If I wished to form a word from the names of three symbols, and if those names began with
three consonants, the word would have three consonants : if, of a consonant and a vowel, as Beth
and Eadha, it would be written BE; if, of two consonants, as Duir and Luis, it would have no
vowel, but merely two consonants, D L. In this manner most words would be written almost
without vowels. But after some time the same cause which made man have recourse to the sound
of the first parts of the names of trees, would occasionally induce him, in order to enable him to
pronounce a word, to add a vowel answering to the sound in the words, where it could not other-
vtibe be spoken. The first syllable of almost all words may be pronounced without a vowel, but
not the second. Thus we have much oftener a vowel in the second part of a word than in the
first ; but there is nothing like a rule. It is evident that this process arose solely from the letters
having been taken from the first sounds of the names of the trees of which the letters were formed 5
as, D from Duir. The order of the figures is natural, as it is natural that two should follow one,
and three two ; but the order of the letters arose solely from the names of the trees attached to
the numbers having the respective sounds in their first letters. For instance \ A is the first letter,
because it is the beginning of the word Ailm, which stands for the first number or number one. If
written language had been formed by the premeditation and reflection of Grammarians and Philo-
bophers, we should have had the alphabet in a very different order ; we shoul^ have had all the
labial letters together, all the dentals together, all the vowels together, &c., and not, as it is now,
in the order of notation. This orderly system in the Sanscrit tends strongly to prove it, compa-
ratively speaking, a modern and artificial language. Indeed I think it does prove it to be so. I
can readily suppose that, after man had found out how to make a syllable by taking the first letters
of two words, as in the case of Id for 14, he would easily form other syllables by taking the sounds
Hebrew, Gen. x. 15, 19; Judges xuii. 28; 1 Chion. i. 13. Sidon or Zicion would, therefore, signify, in numbers,
154 ; and to justify mn being considered as equal to 603, the n must be taken fjr the Greek if. Editor^
BOOK III, CHAPTER I. SECTION 1?. ]g5
of the first letters of words, or beginnings of words, to form other syllables ; as I have shewn that
he would take the first of Duir and the first of Gort, to make Dog or Dg.
17. The art of acrostic writing, which we find in the Tamul, the Psalms, the Runes of Scandi-
navia, &c.9 arose from the mode of making out a word from the first letters of numbers. The
word IIVAA is really an acrostic; and it was this which led the ancients into the apparently
foolish practice of acrostic writing, of which we find, in the languages and works above enu-
merated, so many examples. The words Bisat-al-Gnaim for 1204, lately quoted from Colonel
Tod, are correctly an acrostic.
Mr. Mallet has observed, « that the ancient Scandinavian poetry abounded with acrostics of
" various kinds, as much as the Hebrew ;"* the Scandinavian, that is, the Saxon.
The practice to which our grammarians have given the scientific or technical name of Anagram,
partly arose from the accidental transposition of the letters of a word, when changing the writing
from the numeral system or system of ciphers, and from the top downwards, to the literal and
horizontal, and partly from indifference as to the order in which the letters stood, when the language
was^in unspoken symbols. With respect to language, I believe our grammarians give too much
credit to system, and by no means enough to what we call accident. A moment's reflection will
shew any one that, in the unspoken language of numerical symbols, it was not of the least conse-
quence in what order the symbols were placed. For instance, in the word Sul, whether it were
Slu or Sul, precisely the same idea would be conveyed. This was the origin of Anagrams and
Metathesis, to which we have given these fine names.
This explanation of the hitherto unexplained deficiency of the Hebrew and Celtic vowels, seems
to me to be the most satisfactory of any part of my system, and to connect the whole together as
perfectly as could be expected in cases of this kind. The number of characters in the old Arabic
and other systems having the same names, for instance,2 the three D's, shew, that they were
originally never intended for letters, but merely for numbers.
J am of opinion that the Eastern or Cadmasan system, as the Greeks, called it, was originally
invented from the Arabic, and was kept a great mystery by the Masons, who were of the tribe or
religion of the Chaldeans and of the loudi of Thrace. That the loudi were the persons who in-
vented it, I shall endeavour to shew by and by. The irregular and unsystematic use of vowels
shews that the change from the use of ciphers or figures or symbols to letters, was done without
any system or contrivance which had language or literature for its object. The selection of the
sixteen letters, both in Syria and in Greece, shews signs of the religious mystery, and in Greece,
particularly, it shews that the leaf or petala system or practice was abandoned, in part, from com-
pliance with the sacred mythos \vhich prevailed. At first, after letters were discovered, the initial
of the name of every number would form a letter, but several numbers being called after trees
whose names began with letters having the same sounds, only one would be retained, and thus
only sixteen or seventeen were kept in use. The characters of the trees also shew, that they did
not arise from premeditation 5 for, if they had, such trees as the Spanish chestnut and the pine
would have been selected. I can imagine no other cause for the selection but accident. But they
are all inhabitants of high latitudes. They would thrive equally in Tartary and in Ireland.
Endless is the nonsense which has been written respecting the ten Jewish Sephiroths ; but
Moore has, perhaps, alone explained them. Their name, in fact, tells us what they are. They
are well known to be ten symbols; and what is Sepher but Cipher ?— the ciphers of notation up
to ten, which, it is evident, contained in themselves, in the numeral language or language of
1 Northern Ant. Vol. II. p. 144. • See my Prel, Ob, Sect. 52,
VOL, II. 2 B
186 THE NUMBER NINE.
ciphers, in its endless combinations, all knowledge or wisdom ? This was really Cabalistic. 1
This was the meaning of the aenigma of Pythagoras, that every thing proceeded from numbers.
In this language of ciphers, every cipher or figure, to a certain extent, was, of course, the sym-
bol of a word, viz. to 9 inclusive. At first this would be the case up to 28, and if we look to the
tree alphabet, we shall see each of the grammata or lines, by means of the ligature, made into one.
After the Arabic notation was invented, although all the figures from 9 to 99 would consist of two
symbols, they were in fact representatives of but one idea. Basnage says, that the writing on Bel-
shazzar's wall, interpreted by Daniel, consisted of but a letter or symbol for a word $ this is correctly
cipher writing. It is not surprising that the Chaldaean Daniel should have possessed this Cabalistic
knowledge or the art of writing the symbols in some phosphoretic preparation, which should only
be visible, perhaps, when shaded from the lights. M. Basnage remarks, that the same practice
was observed on ancient inscriptions, where a letter or symbol stands for a word. For various
mystical or superstitious purposes the Greek alphabet was varied from the Asiatic one, and if we
look to other alphabets, we shall be able to perceive superstition at work, and the same supersti-
tion,—the same gratification of the passion or fashion of making riddles or senigmas, which really
seems to have been the leading occupation of the priests, or initiated, for many generations ; in
fact, in all time before Herodotus, who was called the father of history, from being its first in-
ventor, i. e. of hibtory as separated from the historic, mythologic enigmas.
38. We will now consider the number 9.
The to Teth of the Hebrew stands for nine. I have no doubt that we have this letter nearer the
original in form in the Greek ® Theta, a circle including a central point, though the Greek Theta
is not unlike the Teth both in name and form. This has the same name as the Tha or Thas of the
Egyptians, and the $6a$ of the Copts. It is called the everlasting number, because, by whatever
number it is multiplied, if the figures be added, they make 9. Thus 7x9=63, and 6-f 3 -9 \ or an
equal number of nines, and for this reason it has the emblem of eternity for its figure, viz. a point
and a circle. This Tha or Thas is the ninth or last number before the tens begin. The Tzaddi is
the 90, the second nine before the hundreds begin ; and the Tzaddi final is the third 9, standing
for £00, before the thousands begin.
If the reader look to the Irish alphabets in my Preliminary Observations, Chapter I. Sect. xlvi.
p. 9, he will find each of them to consist of seventeen letters, the ninth letter in each is the centre
letter 5 it is the M. In the first it is called Moiria, that is, Maria; and in the second it is called
the Muin=z666, of which we have seen and said so much,2 Can any one believe this to have
been the effect of accident ? And if it be not accident, can any one doubt that it is the effect of a
secret system, and of the very system which I have been unfolding ?
Georgius shews that the Pema or Lotus is the Padraa softened to Pema, I suppose Padma is
Sanscrit and means Pad, one of the names of Buddha, and Ma, mother ; the same as Om, the male
and female united in the Lotus flower. The word Ma or the M with a vowel, without which it
cannot be sounded, was, as I have stated, the old word for mother or the female principle — the
matrix ; and, on this account, it might be that the central numeral letter of the alphabet came to
have the name of M. It was the Ma or Om figure, and thus the tree figure or vine- tree came to
be called MN, or Main, or 666— M-vin the vin of M. It should be remembered that the Jews of
the present day have numerous mysteries attached to the M as the central letter, (many more,
probably, than I am acquainted with,) so that this is not merely a theory, A moment's inspection
she^s that the Arabic alphabet was constructed without any regard to the mythos. Mystery
1 See Basnage, p. 199. s Vol. L pp, 174, 2/3, 659, £c , ulso supra, p, 180,
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 18.
187
itself is a mythos, as 1 have shewn — M-istory — perhaps, I-story — om — the Story of Om. This was
correctly the case with all early history.1 But it is quite clear to me that after the Hebrews had
adopted the first sixteen letters, the others were added, without any regard to the wants of the
language, as a moment's examination will shew. For what, then, could it be, but to humour this
mythos ? — partly, perhaps, out of regard to the Moon's cycle of twenty-seven days, partly to
make the M the central letter $ for, without the contrivance of the final letters, it would not
answer. The final letters are not indispensably necessary, as most of the letters do without the
finals. The Arabians kept all their numbers for letters, but it is evident that if they had been
composed to serve the purpose of letters, they would not have had three letters T, or three letters
S. I have before shewn that it seems probable that the Greeks at one time had the same number
of numeral letters as the Hebrews, or letters having the same power of notation $ but that they
purposely contrived to leave out the Koph, in order that they might have the two centre letters
for their monogram of Bacchus, Mn— 650, eleven letters on each side. One effect of this would be
to make the last three letters of their proper old alphabet have each, in succeeding times, two
numeral powers.2 I have taken great pains to prove, and I am certain I have proved, that the
last three letters of the alphabet had each two numeral meanings. Here we have a satisfactory
explanation of the mode by which that effect was produced in the Greek. After they had given
names to gods or things, from the symbols having the original powers of notation, they would
never be able entirely to destroy these first names and substitute new ones. If new ones were
given, it is evident that both would continue.
Man in Sanscrit means a human being; in Chaldaeo- Hebrew, intelligence.3
Mani is always called Mane : now this will give us nearly the numerical name.
M=eoo
N= 50
1= 10
Er: 5
666
or
M=600 >i
M=600
H= 8 -i
N= 50
1= 10
M=600
1= 10
N= 50
—
fA= 1
> U= 6
608
LE= 5
666
666 -
>
Persian Hour.
— Mani — Pami or Pema — Oin. One is nothing but the M=6QO. Mani is Numa or Minos
or Menu. We have seen how the Nu is m Nh or Noah,4 and I believe it is the NH— Mn
650. 5
We constantly read of the Son of Man. I have often wondered why a^ human being should be
so called. I have little doubt that by this was meant, Son of the Solar Incarnation, Mn.
Man was the image of God, of the being described by the number 650; in short, he was the
microcosm of God, Mind was Sapientiaj and this was only to be made perceptible by one man
to another by means of the Logos or speech. Thus mind came to be described by the word
Logos, the speech or anima in motion, the spirit of God, of which the Linga was the emblem. The
organ of generation, for a similar reason, was called Linga, or Lingua, language, or speech, or Logos.
Mind was the To O. " Every thing tends to the To Of" — " to the centre." For this reason,
* Vol. I. p. 882, n. See 'Iro^a, clr»p, and Italian Storm.
* Volney, Res. Ant, Hist, Vol. IL p. 403. 4 See Vol. I. pp. 234, 236, 420, 626, 649, 714.
* Let it not be forgotten, that when I speak of these matters, I suppose the Greek and Hebrew letters to be the same
or nearly so— not yet to have changed.
2B2
188 T&E NUMBER
when the alphabet consisted of only twenty-four letters or figures, the two centre letters, the
MNir6509 formed its name. The name of that part of the Horn or Homo, which more immediately
partook of the nature of the To Ov, mind and man-mm-di, viz. divus, holy or sacred, that is,
MN. After the sacred number, the Neros was found to be 600 and not 650, the number of the
letters TV as reduced from 28 to 27, and the M=600 was the sacred number. l When this was the
case, it is evident that those who did not understand all the reasoning might take either the LM or
the MN for their sacred number 650. Thus came the Lama and the merca. Thus the Lamed
came to be used indiscriminately with the Nun, as Ficinus tells us. And thus, as we might
expect, Lama, Menu, and Mani, were all the same. The Lamed is, in fact, the LM-di, Holy or
Sacred Lama.
At last, the Lama came to have the same name as the sheep, as the solar constellation, and as
" the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world," because, in the language of figures, it was
was Ln50, M— 600—650. For a similar reason the Goat, which was the same as the Lamb, was
called Mn-des, M-600, Nzz50~650.
The Indian Fig-tree was sacred to the Sun.2 It was the tree of the Lam 5 then, from the re-
giiniiic, the tree Lam-di.
The reader may probably recollect the observations which I made in Volume I. pp. 606, 837,
838, that the Goat and the Sheep are the same genus of animal, and that they will breed forward,
or continue the bieed, like the Greyhound and the Pointer, not like the Horse and the Ass. This
accounts for the Goat being often found where a Sheep might be expected. At last the two ani-
mals came to be equally adored, one as LM=650, the other as MNz:650.
Parkhurst says, jniD mndo, knowledge, understanding.3 From this root in* ido9 probably, comes
the name of the Docetes. He says, run dot, knowledge.4 I believe it was one name of the
Gnostics, and from this probably came the Latin Doctus* We have found munda to mean a cycle
or circle. I suspect this arose from the figurative similitude of the divine mind to the circle which
we meet with every where, to the 0, To O ; and that man had this name from being an emana-
tion from the divine mind. From the word jn» ido comes the word idea, which is so closely con-
nected with understanding, knowledge, and mind. And thus the mounts Ida, of Crete and Troy,
or Tr-ia, might, with little or perhaps no violence, be construed mounts of knowledge or wisdom.
The lod has the meaning of hand and ten, and may be the root of the word loda or Juda, It is
the jri* ido of the Hebrews, which means to think, and figuratively knowledge, Wisdom, in fact,
uur Idea. When a man has no ideas he has no wisdom. We have before seen the close connex-
ion of letters and knowledge. Here, I think, we may find the meaning of Ayodia— -the place of
wisdom. The tribe of Judea may be nothing but the tribe of Judia or Idii. The Idei of Crete were
AOXTWXOI, Dactyli, as the learned say, because they were ten, the number of a person's fingers.
I apprehend they might also be so called from the lodi or Idaei, that is, votaries, or the inventors
or possessors of the system of letters, and also from the word lod a hand. We have here several
meanings similar to what we found in the Tamul. From the Hebrew word jn* wfo, Idea, the ideas
of letteis, knowledge, wisdom, head, cannot be separated. The French T4te is Tat, Ras, head.
» Thus, when it was desired to retain the allegory of the tree of knowledge and letters in the alphabetic numeral
system, and the mansions of the moon and the days of the moon's period were found to be more correctly described by
27, the letters were reduced to 27.
« Vail. Coll Hib. Vol. V. p. 130. 3 jn voce ^ id0y VJL p. 274.
< Ibid p. 273, In a future page we shall find the language of Scotland called Gael-doet. The latter word came to
Scotland with the Jewish abstinence from Pork, and was derived from this word, meaning learned Gael, or Sanctum
Scriptum.
BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTION 18. 189
The Cretans of Mount Ida were said, by the Greeks, to be Jews. They probably constituted the
monastic body, the remains of which still continue as Christian monks on Mount Ida.1
Virgil seems to have known the true nature of this mythos from an expression in the ^Eneid,
Lib. x. —
Alma parens Idasa Deum.
This Idaea was the Maia of Greece* Proclus, upon Plato, uses the expression, MaTa &scov wary :
Maia, the Sovereign or Supreme of the Gods.2
We know certainly that, after the use of the numeral symbols as letters commenced, the custom
of using them as symbols did not cease 5 but, on the contrary, that they were continued in com-
mon use for superstitious purposes by the early fathers ; and it is easy to imagine, that, after the
numeral powers of the Coptic and Greek letters became changed, the Gods should, in some in-
stances, be called, or rather be described, by the symbols in their new application. For instance,
that what before was *)n tr should become 5P=600. And, again, T5P and XSP, I think
each of the letters P2JT came to have two meanings. All this might readily aribe in the infancy
of letter writing, and during the gradual cessation of symbol writing. I think the very easy
manner in which the unmeaning names of the Gods resolve themselves into numbers, and those the
precise numbers which are required to describe the sacred cycle, as it advanced to perfection, and
the way in which they are recorded in the numbers of pillars in the temples, and the way iu which,
as I have shewn, they were used to make up the periods of the Hebrew chronology, as taught by
Usher, Marsham, and Eusebius 5 and the way in which the monograms descriptive of Jesus
Christ are formed of the numbers of the three cycles, leave nothing wanting to the proof of the
truth of my explanation of the system. The probabilities are as a million to one in favour of its
truth.
It should also be recollected, that we are not to be tied down in our reasoning respecting the
meanings of symbols and letters in the first years of their invention, in the same strict manner as
we ought to be, when we reason about those of the fastidious Greeks, at the time when they had
brought their beautiful alphabet to perfection, and fixed, with great precision, the power of every
letter.
The attempts to tie clown inquirers into the early periods of Greece, or any other country, to
the strict grammatical rules adopted or formed iu later times, when these countries had become
highly civilized and their language fixed by these grammatical rules, can only serve, if permitted,
to conceal truth. There is no reason to believe the ancient languages different from the modern
with respect to their uncertainty; and how uncertain are they! The following passage of Sir
John Mauncleville, a learned Englishman in the fourteenth century, will shew in how short a time
even a written language changes : "Aftre that thei ben zolden (yielded) thei sleen hem alle, and
" kutten of hire eres, and soween hem in vynegre, and there of thei maken gret servyse for
" Lordes." Similar examples may be found in every language.
I must also beg my reader not to be surprised if he should find several etymologies for a word.
He must recollect that I pretend to prove nothing, only to raise different degrees of probability in.
each case; and when I give two explanations, the reader may take which he chooses; I believe he
will find either of them consistent with the remainder of the theory. But I think it probable that,
in many cases, words were designedly so formed as to have several meanings. It must also be
recollected, that the meanings of words would change with time.
' For lod hand, see Ouseley's Coll. Vol. Ill, pp. 62, 105, 418. 8 Jurieu, Vol. II. p. 91.
190 ARABIC LETTERS,
19. After man began to theorize on the First Cause, he naturally designated it by the Monad or
Unit, which was at length described by a point : on this arose many most refined speculations. It
was on the Monad, on which was erected all the other numbers, till we get to ten ; the whole of
the fingers which formed one circle or whole, as it contained in itself all numbers. Then, by the
invention of adding the other numbers over again, all numbers are formed. Thus the point came
to be the foundation of both series, and the • or pruktos, or prick, or point, > or jod, to be
descriptive of self-existence, and of both one and ten, and from this in time might arise the
Hebrew verb n»n eie, to le or exist; with its irregular forms, and its > i existence and n> ie, or,
SyriacS, y> io9 joined to >T cK, "TV iud, and the people of lo-di, the holy Io$ and, Chaldaic£, N1V iuda,
and God self-existent, thus formed from the root • the Ailm, on which all letters and numbers
were carried or formed, and consequently all knowledge. Thus it was the creator, and the foun-
dation or mother of figures, letters, and knowledge : from this, the ledi of Judi were the followers
of the holy I, or le, or lo. From this being the origin of letters as well as of creation, the golden
fleece (holy wisdom) and the apple of the Hesperides, apples of the tree of knowledge, holy wis-
dom came.
The first figure would, of course, be what we find it, I : when it got to ten it was X or > in
Hebrew, that is, lod— lo-di— the sacred lo in the Syriac, or IT ih in the Hebrew, translated into
the Greek IH of Delphi, or the XH—608. Jesus Christ, Basnage says, was described by IH.
This shews that the 31 of Delphi was written both HI and 31. In several of the old languages
the first number is described thus, 1, and the tenth, in the same manner; and sometimes both by a
point. This is the Hebrew lod, and the Latin Iota. This is, I apprehend, the To Ov of Plato,
lod is hand, and also, in Hebrew, the Ivy, which is called the five-finger-leaved tree, and the Planta-
vita, *
In the Dalmatian or Illyrian alphabet, the form of the I is X ; and this, I cannot doubt, was
originally the Roman, and the I or j was the ninth) and the X the tenth* The small variations in
the alphabets shew, I think, that they have in most countries got into use by degrees ; escaped,
in fact, from the crypts, before any thing like grammar was thought of.
Duret says, " Que Dien est le chef de toutes les choses, tant de celles qui sont9 que des autres gut
" doivent estre et ne sont encore. Aussi ceste note de nullite 0, qui est circulaire et resoluble en
" soy mesine. Sans fin, et commencement, ne fait rien de soy, mais avec Vunite' constitu6 le
" nombre de 10. Et de-la se va niultipliant en la cornpagnie des autres, jusques & Pinfini."8 Or,
it may be the Jewish and British and Indian cycle of 84 — I— 10, 0—70, D:z4— 84. But I rather
prefer the former. From this numerical theory, the lo of Syria, arose the Jewish irregular verb
n*H to be. As the i. d, or 10 and 4, made the half of the moon, when the year was supposed to be
336 days long; so the n> Le. or 10 and 5, made the half when the year was supposed to be 360
days long.
The * lod is the tenth letter of the old alphabet of figures, the D mem is the tenth of the new
one of letters.
The sacred tetragrammaton might be either mn> ieue, or '0 ft>v5 »ai 6 yv, xai o ep;£oju,svo£ ; or
it might be, rrrrK aeies which comprehends them all.
I apprehend the origin of notation, or of figures or arithmetic, is very fairly represented in the
Preliminary Observations, and the beginning of this book. We will now try to find how the Ara-
bic system was discovered, or I had, perhaps, better say, how the systems of calculation, by calculi
or cowries, or right lines, was perfected. For, though I have spoken of calculi or little stones
' Vail. Coll. Hib. Vol. V. p. 131. • Origin des Langues, p, 159,
BOOK III. CHAPTER I, SECTION 19. 191
only, yet I apprehend the African and Indian and Chinese custom of using little shells or cowries,
and which are yet used in all the oriental countries, soon came into use instead of the calculi. I
suppose that man, after a certain experience of the use of lines or cowries for numbers, proceeded
to invent arbitrary figures for each parcel of lines or cowries, and thus he made a 2 for two
cowries or lines, a 3 for three, and a 9 for nine of them ; each of these parcels answering to a part
of his fingers, and the 9 to nine of them. I have no doubt that in the forming of all these sym-
bols, fanciful or mystical reasons would influence the formation of them, and when he came to the
last finger or digit, and he cast about to determine what sort of a figure he should make for it, —
for it, which was the total of the fingers, — he formed the sign of the circle as, in his opinion, the
most proper; and this it really was, for many reasons, so evident, that I suppose I need not
repeat them. Thus he got the 1, 2, 3, 4, to 9 and 0. When he examined this, he would find
that he had one total. He laid his cowries or inscribed his lines one below another, and he found
if he took three of them thus,
i
1
1
they made 3...... 3
and four would in like manner make 4. If he took ten of them, in like manner they made 10 or 0.
That i&, they made one 0, or one total, that is, 1. 0, This brought him instantly to simple addi-
tion, as far as to nine figures, and perhaps to ten. He would observe that the one total, or 10,
was descriptive of all the cowries he had in his hand, and that the figures on the right described
ones answering to his fingers or digits, and the next figure on the left ten digits. He then
took two parcels of cowries of ten each, and he said,
If one of these parcels is described by one total. ....,.«<»».,. , 1 0,
two of these parcels ought to be described by two totals . , , , 2 0,
that three might be described by three totals. ..,.».,, . , 3 0,
and so on till he got to nine totals ,,,» *,.....,,. 9 0,
and, at last, that a hundred cowries would be described by ten totals, thus. „ 10 0.
This would immediately shew, that the first number on the right described digits, the next on the
left tens, and the next on the left, parcels of ten tens each, In the above we have the sums-— ten,
twenty, thirty, &c.
About the same time that man got so far as to form the 10, and to describe the sums 20, 30, 40,
&c., he would observe, if one and a circle, made one total,1 and that the one in the second line to
the left always answered to ten, that, if instead of the 1 and 0, he put 1 and 1, he would describe
the eleven cowries, which he had in his hand; and if he put 1 and 2, he would describe the
twelve cowries which he had in his hand; and hence he discovered how to describe 11, 12, 13,
&c., to 20, or two totals. In this manner, again, he was led to discover, that the first line on the
right was digits, the second to the left tens, the third to the left, parcels of ten tens, or what we
call hundreds. After this, I think the mode in which man would proceed with the combined as-
sistance of his cowries and figures, to underwrite the number of the odd digits on the right, carry-
i The word Total, which I have made use of, is al-tat ; the tat or tot meaning